Watch Dave Grohl Honor Ice Bucket Challenge Founder at Webby Awards
Dave Grohl, who contributed one of the more memorable videos to the avalanche of clips comprising last summer’s ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, honored the viral movement and one of its co-founders, Pat Quinn, at the Webby Awards Monday night.
Grohl first recalled the making of his own video with the Foo Fighters, which came after he was challenged by friend/collaborator Zac Brown, who’d doused himself and his band using a fire truck. Wanting to one-up the country rocker, Grohl scoured the web for ideas and settled on a dutiful recreation of the famous bucket-of-blood scene from Carrie.
“I couldn’t fucking believe nobody had done the Carrie thing yet — it’s like the most famous bucket-on-the-head scene of all time!” Grohl exclaimed during his speech. “And I’m the fucking genius that actually got to it first.”
Grohl went on to discuss the origins of the Ice Bucket Challenge, adding some of his trademark goofiness to the otherwise serious proceedings. Noting first that his speech had been written for him, Grohl continued in a exaggerated tone and at one point noted, “There’s not enough swearing in this.” Even with his additional four-letter interjections, the message was clear: The Ice Bucket Challenge not only raised over $220 million to fight ALS but drastically increased worldwide awareness of the disease.
Following a poignant video that retraced the Ice Bucket Challenge’s rise, Grohl emphasized the movement’s importance despite it existing in a fickle viral culture. “Trends happen quickly on the Internet and it’s easy to get distracted by a really awesome video of a monkey washing a cat,” Grohl said. “But we can’t unlearn what we’ve learned. One, we need to continue the fight until we defeat ALS. And two, the Internet is the most powerful megaphone we have to make sure that that message is heard.”
Grohl then introduced Quinn, the Ice Bucket Challenge co-founder and ALS activist currently battling the disease, who succinctly summed up the ongoing fight: “Every August until a cure.”