Since the death of the great pop icon David Bowie four days ago, data from Facebook has circulated back reflecting which countries reacted the most to this sad event. While people all over the world posted comments and videos in response to the news of the singer’s demise, Iceland fell into the top three countries that posted the most, per capita. The United Kingdom claimed the number one spot, followed in second place by Australia.
The data was assessed twelve hours after the news of Bowie’s death was announced on international media. In this span of time, not only did Icelanders post and share and like and comment the third-most frequently, but, according to Facebook, 35 million people shared 100 million interactions of various types commemorating the life and music of the British star.
Bowie visited Iceland in 1996 and performed a concert for the Reykjavík Arts Festival. According to an interview he did with MTV, he found Iceland to be “totally cool.” For Icelanders’ part, the feeling is mutual.
Among all the posts and reposts about Bowie’s death, one of the most shared was from British comedian Eddie Izzard, who urged radio stations all over the world to play only Bowie–an entreaty which Icelandic radio station Rás 2 acquiesced to wholeheartedly.