Church organist and volunteer becomes a worldwide internet sensation after his rendition of Bowie's Life on Mars goes viral
A volunteer organist who has become an overnight internet sensation after he played an impromptu tribute to David Bowie in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery said he was “overwhelmed” by the experience.
Nearly two million people around the world have now watched a video of Christopher Nickol playing an emotional and stirring rendition of the rock star’s iconic track Life on Mars.
The two minute 35 second video, filmed by artist Gordon Wilson on his phone, has been shared on Facebook nearly 45,000 times - a level of interest he described as “quite alarming”.
The performance at Tuesday lunchtime was met with rapturous applause by the audience, many of whom had woken up to the news that David Bowie had died aged 69 after fighting a secret battle with cancer for 18-months.
Christopher, a volunteer at New Kilpatrick Parish Church in Bearsden, said he had grown up with the London-born star’s music and thought it would be appropriate to honour his memory.
Recitals have taken place at Kelvingrove Art Gallery practically every day since 2007.
People from all round the world have turned their hand to piping out tunes on the handsome organ which dates back to the early 1900s.
A professional musician by trade Christopher regularly volunteers to play Kelvingrove’s organ.
He has previously played James Bond themes, AC/DC material and the song Let it Go from the Disney animated film Frozen at Kelvingrove.
Christopher said: “David Bowie wrote some very good songs and after I heard on the news that he had died I thought I would play a tribute to him as yesterday happened to be one of my days there.
“I remember hearing Life on Mars when it first came out in the early 1970s so I know it well and it is a great song.
“I felt it would go well on the organ because it is a slow song, very melodic and has interesting harmony and chords.”
He said he played the song from memory after listening to it online to remind himself of how it sounded.
“The crowd wasn’t very big but there was a very strong round of applause and the art gallery staff later told me that some people had reacted quite emotionally.
“Bowie meant a lot to a lot of people but it wasn’t until last night that I found out that somebody had filmed me playing and posted the video on Facebook.
“Nearly one million people had watched it by 11pm which is quite alarming - I am overwhelmed by the response.”
The video was uploaded by Milngavie-based art gallery owner Gordon Wilson and the video has focused attention on Kelvingrove, the daily concerts and the organists who regularly play there.
The Rev Roddy Hamilton, minister at New Kilpatrick Parish Church, said Christopher was a “superb, first class organist” who sensitively uses contemporary music to link faith and culture together to connect with people.
“He is very creative and he does that regularly on a Sunday morning – he has a real passion for it and people should come along and hear for themselves.”
