Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. His music consisted primarily of pop-oriented house music, often blended with other genres such as folk, country, bluegrass, soul, and blues. He is considered one of the most popular and successful electronic dance music (EDM) artists of all time, and was credited with "leading EDM into the mainstream" by Variety.
Avicii began posting remixes on Internet forums when he was 16 and in 2007 signed with the Dejfitts Plays record label. After winning a BBC Radio 1 competition in 2008, he signed a talent management agreement with Arash Pournouri. "Levels" (2011) was his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut studio album, True (2013), peaked in the top 10 in more than 15 countries; the lead single, "Wake Me Up", became a most-streamed song on Spotify. Both his album Stories (2015) and the EP Avīci (01) (2017) reached number one on the Swedish Sverigetopplistan chart. His third and final album, Tim (2019), was released posthumously and reached number one on the Billboard Top Dance Albums chart.
Avicii, a self-described shy person, suffered from anxiety and depression and used alcohol as a coping mechanism. In 2012, Avicii was hospitalized for 11 days in New York City with acute pancreatitis caused by alcoholism. Between 2012 and 2014, to treat pain from the pancreatitis, Avicii was prescribed opioids and became addicted. In March 2014, he underwent surgery to remove his appendix and gallbladder and entered a drug rehabilitation facility in 2015. Due to these health issues, Avicii announced his retirement from touring in March 2016. He experienced significant anxiety and in 2018, while on vacation in Muscat, Oman, Avicii died by suicide at the age of 28, using a broken wine bottle to cause "massive bleeding".
Avicii's accolades included four MTV Europe Music Awards, two International Dance Music Awards, one American Music Award, and one Billboard Music Award. He was nominated for a Grammy for his work on "Sunshine" with David Guetta in 2012 and "Levels" in 2013.
1989–2010: Early life and career
Tim Bergling was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 8 September 1989; he was the son of Klas Bergling, who ran an office supply business, and actress Anki Lidén. He had three siblings, one of whom is the actor Anton Körberg. At age eight, Tim started mixing music in his bedroom.
Inspired by one of his brothers who was also a DJ, Bergling began making music at the age of 16; he taught himself to use a pirated copy of FL Studio. In May 2007, Bergling signed a recording contract with the Dejfitts Plays record label. He was a member of the Laidback Luke Internet forum under the user name "Timberman", where he posted to get feedback on his music. During this period, he remixed tracks by Little Boots, Robyn, and Dizzee Rascal. Bergling adopted his moniker Avicii, a respelling of Avīci, the lowest level of naraka, or hell, in Buddhism. He chose the moniker because his real name was already in use when he created his page on Myspace.
In April 2010, under the name Tim Berg, Avicii released "Bromance", an instrumental track, via Joia Records, a Swedish independent dance label. After the track became popular, in October 2010, Avicii added vocal elements from Samuele Sartini's track "Love U Seek" (featuring singer Amanda Wilson) to the track and released the song "Seek Bromance" via Ministry of Sound under license from Sirup Music. It reached the top 20 in several countries, including Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. In 2010, he signed with the European A&R team at EMI Music Publishing.
"Fade into Darkness", which samples a track from Penguin Cafe Orchestra, was released in July 2011. Leona Lewis sampled the track on her single "Collide", released in August 2011. The samples were not credited to Avicii as he thought Lewis was only going to sample the original track by Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Avicii then attempted to legally block the release of the single; Lewis agreed to give Avicii credits on her track.
In October 2011, Avicii released "Levels", which launched him into the mainstream. "Levels" reached the top ten in 15 countries. The song is considered to be his "career-making early signature song".
Avicii's collaboration track "Sunshine" with David Guetta was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in February 2012 but lost to "Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites" by Skrillex. In April 2012, he released "Silhouettes", which features vocals from Salem Al Fakir. It charted in several European countries.
In June 2012, after reaching two million followers on Facebook, Avicii released "Two Million".
In August 2012, Avicii performed at the 2012 Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park in Chicago. He toured the U.S. that summer, playing bigger venues than on his previous tour, but the tour was regarded as a flop as many seats were empty.
Also in August 2012, he released "Dancing in My Head" (Avicii's 'Been Cursed' Mix), featuring vocals from Eric Turner, on Beatport.
In September 2012, Avicii became the first DJ to headline Radio City Music Hall. At his performance at Radio City Music Hall, he gave a preview of "Stay with You," a collaboration with Mike Posner. In November 2012, Avicii's song "Last Dance" was released.
In December 2012, Avicii released the song "I Could Be the One", a collaboration with Nicky Romero that features Noonie Bao on vocals. The single entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 17 February 2013―for the week ending 23 February 2013―becoming both Avicii's and Nicky Romero's first chart-topping single in Britain.
In January 2013, Avicii partnered with Ericsson to create the world's first "crowdsourced" hit song. It led to the song "X You", released in February 2013; Avicii acted as executive producer and created the song. Also in January 2013, Avicii released "Three Million" featuring Negin to celebrate his Facebook page reaching three million followers.
In February 2013, at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Avicii was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording for "Levels".