By Scott T. Sterling
Over the course of this summer, the Ice Bucket Challenge has grown into a genuine social phenomenon as a highly effective way to raise awareness and funds to battle Lou Gehrig’s Disease, also known as ALS. Inspired in large part by Boston College baseball star Pete Frates, the challenge has blossomed to include celebrities of all sorts, including sports heroes, movie stars, political figures all enduring a bucket of ice water on their heads in pursuit of a cure for this debilitating disease. Since Frates initial challenge, donations to battle ALS have reached over $15 million (and still counting) compared to just $1.4 million last year.
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Music stars have also joined in the fight, with a cavalcade of artists across all genres joining in on the ice bucket phenomenon while calling out fellow musicians to also take part. Here is a collection of some of the biggest names who’ve gone under the ice in this valiant battle against this terrible disease.
Related: Foo Fighters Reenact ‘Carrie’ for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Watch
Drake – The rap superstar employed his current tour mate, Lil Wayne, to do the honors after a concert in Pittsburgh over the weekend (Aug. 17). Fans were given an extra treat when Drizzy followed the challenge by stripping off his shirt. Drake upped the ante by challenging pop queen Beyoncé to face the ice water.
Lil Wayne – Not to be outdone by Drake, Wayne used his “Weezy Wednesdays” segment for his challenge, calling out everyone watching the video to join in.
Taylor Swift – We’re especially fond of Swift’s edition, as she makes a point to emphasize donating money to the cause in her clips. Promising $100 donated for each person in her video, she challenged fellow pop star, Selena Gomez, to also take the plunge.
Selena Gomez – Gomez accepted Swift’s challenge, and took a head full of ice water, much to the delight of her friends who helped her out with it.
Dr. Dre – Being star of such superstar proportions as Dr. Dre equals accepting the challenge from none less than Apple CEO, Tim Cook. His crew utilizes a rather elaborate apparatus to douse the hip-hop legend, and it takes it like a boss. The good doctor called out fellow rap hero, Eminem, who accepted the challenge via Twitter. We’re waiting, Slim Shady!
Garth Brooks – Nominated by Zac Brown Band and Florida Georgia Line, the country music mega-star ultimately accepted the challenge of Entertainment Tonight star Nancy O’Dell in honor of her mother, Betty. Brooks calls out the professional sports franchises of Pittsburgh before taking a serious Gatorade shower (although his cowboy hat helps deflect a lot of the wash).
Katy Perry – Is she on a pirate ship? Regardless, Ms. Perry looks sleek and regal in a black bikini as she gets hit with a double dose of cold water. She gets bonus points for nominating Madonna!
Britney Spears – The pop legend more than delivers on her challenge, which she accepted from her little sister, Jamie Lynn. She loses her sunglasses and also her composure, coming precariously close to letting a profanity fly when hit with the frigid water.
Justin Timberlake – Much like Taylor Swift, JT (rocking a sweet Pink Floyd t-shirt) brings along a posse for his turn under the ice, calling out Jimmy Fallon and The Roots to accept the challenge.
The Roots & Jimmy Fallon – The Tonight Show crew heard Timberlake’s challenge and accepted it live during a taping. The Roots’ drummer Questlove immediately whipped out his pick to fix his afro after dumping water on his head.
Howard Lawrence of Disclosure – One half of the red-hot house music duo gets a surprise blast from a water hose after covering himself in cold water.
Sam Smith – The “Stay with Me” singer (accepting the challenge from Disclosure‘s Howard Lawrence) looks dapper in a black blazer when he gets doused, nominating Dev Hynes of Blood Orange and Nile Rodgers to take the plunge.
Lady Gaga – The notorious pop star put a decidedly goth spin on the challenge, dousing herself with a large silver tureen of ice water, while not even batting an eyelash from the bitter cold. Among those that she challenged was British vocal superstar, Adele.
Ed Sheeran – The red-headed singer-songwriter claims to have just woken up when he accepted the challenge. Good morning!
Eddie Vedder – Pearl Jam‘s frontman accepted the challenge from bandmate Mike McCready for his challenge in Seattle, calling out Bruce Springsteen to join him. His daughters used the opportunity to call out Niall Horan of One Direction as well.
Niall Horan of One Direction – Horan heard Vedder’s daughters and accepted their challenge, literally wearing the bucket before letting out an icy howl with a nice wet t-shirt moment to top it off.
Miley Cyrus – We love Miss Cyrus, but she has to take a point deduction for not using ice water, but rice? Her brother Braison joins her in the rice bath.
Shania Twain – The country-pop pioneer goes all in on her challenge (that she accepted from Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys) and really lets herself have it with a big bucket of water. She also comes with some of the best nominations yet: Lionel Richie, Pink and John Travolta.
Lionel Richie – The legendary singer-songwriter heard Twain’s challenge and accepted it. In turn, he nominates Kenny Rogers, Enrique Iglesias and his daughter, Sophia, who runs for cover after splashing her dad with a bucket of ice water.
Martin Garrix – The EDM hero adds a degree on intrigue to his challenge by doing it while buried up to his neck in sand. Brave man!
Zac Brown Band – The country-rockers turned things up a notch by recruiting a fire truck to hit the entire band with a double-dose of icy water. They called out a slew of superstars including Foo Fighters, Jimmy Buffett, Garth Brooks and notorious music industry columnist, Bob Lefsetz.
Justin Bieber – The controversial pop superstar accepted the challenge from his manager, Scooter Braun, although some viewers have called the Biebs out as there is no ice visible in his relatively small pan of water. Among those he challenged include POTUS, Barack Obama. Bieber heard the criticisms and did a second challenge with a much larger bucket (and without a shirt), but still no visible ice. For his second attempt, he challenged his legions of “Bielibers.”
Iggy Azalea – The “Fancy” Australian rapstress donned a neon bikini for her turn under the frigid water, challenging fellow pop stars and collaborators, Rita Ora and Charli XCX, to get in on the action.
Macklemore – The Grammy-winning rapper accepted the challenge from Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback, Russell Wilson, and endured his bucket of icy water onstage in front of thousands of screaming fans at a show.
Jennifer Lopez – JLo chose an idyllic outdoor setting for her challenge, calling out her “Booty” collaborator, Pitbull, to step up and take it on the head. Dale!
Tiesto – The Dutch EDM mega-star went all out for his challenge (which he accepted from The Chainsmokers), employing a bevy of bikini beauties to assist him with the water works while onstage at Las Vegas’ Wet Republic Ultra Pool. In true Tiesto fashion, his dousing was followed by the “Red Lights” producer being soaked with a slew of popped champagne bottles. He challenged fellow superstar DJs Skrillex, Calvin Harris and Martin Garrix.
Calvin Harris – Harris heard Tiesto’s challenge, and took it head on. Baring his bod in just a pair of shorts, the Scottish “Summer” producer took a moment of zen meditation before pouring a bucket that appears to be mostly ice and very little water atop his noggin. Respect!
Luke Bryan – The breakout country superstar was on the field at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when he covered himself in ice water for the cause, challenging Lady Antebellum member Charles Kelley to do the same.
Weird Al Yankovic – The resurgent music parody master brought along his lovely wife, Suzanne Krajewski, for his video, where he calls out none less than President Obama, the Dali Lama and the Pope to to join the challenge.
Wiz Khalifa – The rapper took a moment out of skateboarding to join in on the challenge, making a point to not flinch at all when subjected to the sizable bucket of icy water.
Keith Urban – The Australian country star calls out Eric Church, Tim McGraw and John Mayer before catching a face full of ice water.
Icona Pop – Both members of the Swedish pop duo went in together, accepting the challenge of Cobra Starship and nominating breakout singer Tove Lo.
Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman of Fall Out Boy – Wentz gets a surprise dousing from bandmate Trohman in this clip, where Wentz gets bonus points for mentioning that he’ll donate $100 to the cause of ending ALS.
Chris Brown – A very blond Brown calls out a slew of rappers & singers, including Trey Songz and Tyga, when he accepts the challenge.
Steve Aoki – The superstar DJ steps up with a killer clip, calling out a wide range of nominations including Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Hulk Hogan and Verne Troyer. He also calls out fellow DJ Deorro, who does the honors of hitting Aoki with a serious wave of ice. The clip also comes with a pretty sweet ice bucket challenge beat-box rhythm that channels Vanilla Ice. We see what you did there, Steve.
Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park – Shinoda heard Aoki’s challenge, which is he accepted onstage at a show in New Jersey, calling out bandmate Chester Bennington in the process.
Chester Bennington of Linkin Park – Bennington accepted Shinoda’s challenge, catching his face full of ice water during a concert in Long Island, New York, bringing out his three admittedly adorable kids to share the moment. Both Linkin Park members also commit to donating money to the cause.
Afrojack – Another superstar DJ takes the challenge, which he accepted from another EDM star, Nicky Romero. Afrojack takes the edge off his ice bath by jumping into a swimming pool immediately after getting iced.
G-Unit – Rappers Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck (who does an awesome dance after getting hit) take turns getting soaked under the icy waterfall.
Liam Gallagher, sitting atop a scooter, took the cold water like a man and nominated “Spongebob Squarepants, Ivor the Engine, and, while we’re on cartoon characters, Noel Gallagher.”
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