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As a musical icon, few could touch the black cotton hem of Johnny Cash. So it is not surprising that it required 37 of the coolest figures in popular culture to pay tribute in a video that has become the talk of YouTube.

Kate Moss reclines languorously and Keith Richards flashes his skeleton ring while Johnny Depp strums away in the grainy black-and-white video accompanying Cash’s song God’s Gonna Cut You Down.

With Jay-Z, Bono, Chris Martin, the actor Owen Wilson, Iggy Pop and even the pop artist Sir Peter Blake joining the stars, those not invited to participate must feel that they are off the “cool list”. The video tribute to Cash, which accompanies one of the last recordings made prior to his death in 2003, was conceived by Tony Kaye, the controversial British film director, and Justin Timberlake, who also appears.

Artists dropped everything when they received Kaye’s call to participate. They were told to wear black and to interpret the song in whatever way they felt channelled the outlaw spirit of Cash.

The three-minute video, placed on the YouTube website yesterday, has already attracted 65,000 plays, with fans seeking to identify the icons making their five-second blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearances.

The Stars: Justin Timberlake, Corinne Bailey Rae, Sheryl Crow, Chris Martin, Sharon Stone, Johnny Depp, Kris Kristofferson, Jay-Z, Iggy Pop, Bono, Brian Wilson, Dennis Hopper, Shelby Lynne, Patti Smith, Kanye West, Amy Lee, Sir Peter Blake, Keith Richards, Terrence Howard, Kate Moss, Tommy Lee, Flea, Adam Levine, Chris Rock, Woody Harrelson, Dixie Chicks, Mick Jones, Anthony Kiedis, Travis Barker, Lisa Marie Presley, Kid Rock, Billy Gibbons, Brandon Flowers, Graham Nash, Rick Rubin, Owen Wilson, Q-Tip

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