A crowd of thousands filled the streets of David Bowie's hometown of Brixton on Monday night, and it was all thanks to a teenage girl from Bowthorpe.

Honor Louise, 18, noticed that amidst the enormous outpouring of sadness over Bowie's death, there wasn't any way for people to celebrate his life.

Wanting to create an event where people could celebrate the achievements of one of the world's most iconic musicians, the Fine Arts student at the University of Westminster took action.

'I saw a tweet and I saw there were people wanting to do something positive but no one was making it happen, so I thought I'd make a Facebook event,' Ms Louise said.

And so she did, with the event quickly gaining traction in a manner only social media events can.

Within hours, thousands of individuals had gathered outside the Ritzy Cinema, in Brixton, with sadness transformed into scenes of celebration.

'It was incredible to see the number of people who responded to the idea – an idea of celebration and love and support to celebrate the life of one of the most influential musicians and artists in the world,' Ms Louise said.

'It was a really supportive and happy atmosphere. People might think that it's wrong to be happy, but everyone felt the same. There was a real community feel.'

Fans, artists and the general public gathered as one to sing, dance, cry and celebrate the life of Bowie.

A musician herself, Ms Louise said the influence of the late artist seemingly had no end.

'I don't think there's any creative person alive today who can honestly say Bowie has had no influence on any part of their life or work,' she said.

'I mean his influence is different for everyone, it's personal for everyone, but for me it was a reassurance that you can do whatever you want and if you do it well enough, people will listen.'

The enormous gathering made worldwide headlines, with news of the event and images of thousands of people on the streets of Brixton spreading quickly – again through social media.

For Ms Louise, having never anticipated the event would be so huge, the enthusiasm of the crowd had made her proud to be the instigator behind the tribute.

'A lot of people have said how much they needed it and that's why it happened in the first place, so I'm glad.'

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