Amanda Palmer, formerly of the Dresden Dolls, solo artist, half of Evelyn Evelyn, and lead singer of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from Chris Anderson of TED who was originally challenged by Bill Gates.
Palmer who was taking a break from workshop rehearsal at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY., began the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge solo, calling out Neil Gaiman and Ben Folds, then the camera swings around showing 8 other people taking the challenge with her while challenging others.
In the video, Palmer explains how this cause is especially close to her heart by holding up a picture of her late step-brother Karl Oberteuffer, who died of ALS when Amanda was 21.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which has been a viral craze over the last month and has recently begun to hit many singers, musicians, actors and athletes consists of either taking the challenge by having a bucket of freezing ice water dumped on the persons head, and donating $10 to ALS or Donating $100 if the person does not accept and follow through with the challenge.
Other famous accepters of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have included Charlie Sheen, Kobe Bryant, Jimmy Fallon, Hayden Panettiere, Oprah, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Lady Gaga, George Bushand many more.
On Saturday, August 16th, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge co-founder died in a diving accident off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. He originally turned the challenge into a fundraiser to help his friend Pete Frates who was diagnosed with ALS
According to the New York Times, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has raised more than $41 million from July 29 to August 21st. That is more than double the association raised in all of 2013 with $19.4 million.
In October of 2013, mxdwn reported that just after covering Rihanna’s “Umberella”, at Ninja Gig in Tel-Aviv, Palmer announced that she would take a long break from touring to focus on writing and building a life in upstate New York.
Palmer has also recently revealed the cover art for her upcoming book entitled, The Art of Asking, which is scheduled to be released November 11 via Grand Central Publishing. The non-fiction book focuses on the idea that ‘asking for help is not easy,’ which was inspired by her TED talk in 2013.
You can watch Amanda Palmer’s entire challenge video and her version of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” below.
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