Memorial Page for Avicii (née Tim Bergling)

Roots and First Sounds

Tim Bergling was born in Stockholm on 8 September 1989, the son of the actress Anki Lidén and the businessman Klas Bergling. The world would later know him by a single word: Avicii. Behind it was a young man from Sweden who first made music for himself, in his bedroom, with a guitar and a computer.

At eight he began mixing music in his room. At 16 he was producing house music there, track by track, night after night. What stayed a hobby for others became a language for him. He had no stage and no label, only ideas and the patience to try them until they sounded right.

The Name and the Beginning

When he wanted to set up a Myspace page in the late 2000s, his own name was already taken. He chose a term from Buddhist scripture and spelled it with a second i: Avicii. In May 2007 he signed his first record deal, with the label Dejfitts Plays.

On the internet forum of the Dutch producer Laidback Luke he shared his tracks and remixes under the name Timberman. Luke became one of his first champions and brought him onto festival stages. In 2010, "Seek Bromance" reached the top 20 in several countries, among them Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The bedroom producer now stood in front of an audience.

Levels

"Levels" was released on 28 October 2011. It reached the top ten in at least 15 countries and spent weeks at number one in Sweden. Festivals around the world booked him. For "Sunshine", recorded with David Guetta, he received his first Grammy nomination in 2012; the second followed in 2013, for "Levels".

In August 2012 he played "Levels" at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, inside a stage set shaped like a giant skull, in front of a wall of light. He was 22, and his name stood in capital letters above the stages of the biggest festivals.

Miami, 22 March 2013

At the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, one of the biggest electronic music festivals in the world, Avicii premiered around 40 minutes of new music on 22 March 2013. Instead of the expected bass, he brought a band onto the main stage, with guitar, banjo and the soul singer Aloe Blacc. The songs sounded like country and bluegrass, not like the house he was known for. Part of the crowd booed. He answered on Facebook: "My music is open to anyone who wants to listen to it and I will always stay true to my sound."

One of those songs was "Wake Me Up". The single was released on 17 June 2013, with Aloe Blacc on vocals and Mike Einziger of Incubus on guitar. In Germany it spent ten consecutive weeks at number one from July and became the most successful song of 2013. It also topped the charts in Austria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Australia. In February 2014 "Wake Me Up" was the most-streamed song on Spotify. In December 2014 it became the first single ever to be certified diamond in Germany, for more than one million copies sold.

His debut album "True" followed on 13 September 2013. It reached number one in Sweden, number two in the United Kingdom and number five in both the United States and Germany. "Hey Brother", released on 28 October 2013 with the bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski, went to number one in Germany, Sweden and Norway. The crowd that had booed in Miami was singing these songs six months later.

Ibiza and the Big Stages

In the summers of 2014 and 2015 Avicii played the Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel, under the open sky, in front of thousands. He was now among the most booked DJs in the world. Added to that were two MTV Europe Music Awards and an American Music Award in 2013, and a Billboard Music Award for "Wake Me Up" in 2014. His second album, "Stories", was released on 2 October 2015.

Behind the shows was a person who increasingly felt the travelling and the nights on stage as a burden. He spoke openly about music meaning everything to him, and about the life around it becoming too much.

Stepping Back

On 29 March 2016 he wrote an open letter to his fans: this year's tour would be his last. He had, he wrote, "too little left for the life of a real person behind the artist". A long drive across the United States with friends and his team had helped him make a decision he had been wrestling with for some time. On 28 August 2016 he played his final concert at Ushuaïa in Ibiza. He was 26.

He did not let go of the music. On 10 August 2017 the EP "Avīci (01)" was released, with "Without You", sung by Sandro Cavazza and a number one in Sweden, and "Lonely Together" with Rita Ora. It was his last release in his lifetime. The same year saw the documentary "Avicii: True Stories", which had followed him on tour for years.

Farewell

Tim Bergling died on 20 April 2018 at the age of 28. The following day, people gathered at Sergels torg in Stockholm, played his music and danced to it. His family called him Tim. The world called him Avicii.

What Remains

On 26 March 2019 his parents, Klas Bergling and Anki Lidén, founded the Tim Bergling Foundation. It works for the mental health of young people and supports causes he cared about: climate protection, the protection of endangered animals and the fight against hunger. On 6 June 2019 the album "Tim" was released, completed after his death; its proceeds go to the foundation. The single "SOS", with Aloe Blacc, had preceded it on 10 April 2019.

On 5 December 2019 close to 60,000 people came to the Avicii Tribute Concert at Friends Arena in Stockholm. Tickets had sold out in 30 minutes. For more than two hours, friends and collaborators played his music, backed by a 30-piece band and a gospel choir: Aloe Blacc, David Guetta, Kygo, Nicky Romero, Rita Ora, Adam Lambert, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike. It had been, his friends said, a long-held wish of his to hear his music played by an orchestra. The proceeds went to the foundation.

Forever Unforgotten

On 19 May 2021 Stockholm's Globen arena was given a new name: Avicii Arena, with room for 16,000 people at concerts. On his 32nd birthday, 8 September 2021, Google dedicated a Doodle to him. On 26 February 2022 the interactive museum Avicii Experience opened in Stockholm, and on 1 September 2022 the memorial "Standing Waves", three sculptures in steel, was inaugurated in Humlegården; his father Klas Bergling spoke at the ceremony. In 2024 the documentaries "Avicii - I'm Tim" and "Avicii - My Last Show" told the story of his life and of his final concert.

His greatest song was booed before the world sang it. Tim Bergling played it to the end. Avicii. Forever unforgotten.