Vampire Weekend Blows Up…a Saab

The indie rockers light a car on fire in the video for their new tune, “Diane Young.” Will it burn up the charts?

The indie rockers light a car on fire in the video for their new tune, “Diane Young.” Will it burn up the charts?


It’s bad enough that Saab—makers of the kinda weird, kinda cool cars beloved by crunchy uncles and douchey yuppies alike—went to that big junkyard in the sky about two years ago. Now, to add insult to injury, New York-based indie rockers Vampire Weekend set two of them aflame in the video for their new song, “Diane Young.” The stunt ignited (sorry) the anger of fans of the Swedish brand enough that lead singer Ezra Koenig was forced to respond to the many people upset by the video. This isn’t the first time, though, that musicians have trashed cars for the sake of “art.” Here are three of the awesomest auto-destructing videos of all time. (Now, whose insurance is paying for this again?)

Michael Jackson, “Black or White”


In the oft-censored “Panther Dance” sequence (the gloved one grabs his crotch with extra gusto), a burned-out clunker bears the brunt of MJ’s rage.

The Limousines, “The Future”


This “indietronica” band (apparently that’s a thing) crashes a Back-to-the-Future‘d out DeLorean in this video. Great Scott!

Jay-Z and Kanye West, “Otis”


When they weren’t watching the throne, the hip-hop heavyweights were taking a torch to a $350,000 Maybach. Always the gentlemen, they donated the proceeds from the parts to charity.

Check out more of Maxim’s music coverage:

The Strokes Are Leaking!

Branford Marsalis Talks Muffulettas, The Tonight Show, and Jazz

Mentioned in this article: