Music

Rush's Geddy Lee took the ALS ice bucket challenge and made the most Canadian call-outs ever

by Mark Teo

For the last few weeks, the ALS ice bucket challenge has taken the pop-culture world by storm. What started out as a simple concept—dunk iced-water over your head in the name of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis research, donate some cash, and challenge a friend—has gone absolutely haywire: Crack-smoking mayor Rob Ford took the challenge. Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban did it in the streets of Toronto with a dumptruck of ice water. The Foo Fighters even took on the challenge, re-creating Carrie in the process. And in terrible, yet cartoonishly poetic, news, the challenge’s founder died by drowning recently.

Canadian musicians, however, have remained curiously silent—and curiously dry. That is, of course, until Rush’s Geddy Lee, who recently had a park named for him, stepped to the plate. Check the video of Lee taking the challenge below, and finally, he’s called out a few Canadians—including Polaris prize host Jay Baruchel, the Barenaked Ladies’ Ed Robertson, and non-Canadian retired pitcher Randy Johnson, a long time friend of Lee’s.