Tim Bergling (September 8, 1989 – April 20, 2018), better known by his stage name Avicii
, was a Swedish Electronic Music DJ and producer. He is now credited as a key figure in the 2010s mainstream boom of Electronic Dance Music.
Bergling's stage name (slightly modified from "Avīci", the lowest level of Buddhist hell) was chosen since, while setting up a MySpace account, his real name was already taken. Starting his career as a remix DJ, he first got his foot in the door by posting his remixes to electronic music forums at 16. After a few years of false starts on the Australian label Vicious Recordings, he'd reach global prominence with the release of the massively successful song "Levels" in 2011note , which has been retrospectively deemed one of the defining songs of modern EDM.
Bergling spent the mid-2010s releasing several albums and EPs, racking up more hits along the way (namely "Wake Me Up" and "Hey Brother" from the album True, "The Nights" from the EP The Days / The Nights, and "Waiting for Love" from the album Stories). During this time, he made a name for himself with his music's novel genre crossovers; as he regarded EDM to be too focused on drops, he mixed its sound with genres such as soul, funk, blues, folk and country.
In 2016, he retired from touring due to health concerns and mostly fell out of the public eye, aside from the EP Avīci (01) released in 2017.
On April 20, 2018, Bergling was found dead. While the cause of death was not immediately given, it was eventually confirmed to be suicide. He had been outspoken on struggling with stress and poor mental health for several years before his death, and high pressure from management and fans to continue touring and uphold his public persona was noted as a key factor.
With the help of several collaborators, a posthumous album called Tim, which consists of songs that Avicii was working on before his death, was made and eventually released in 2019.
Bergling was also the center of a documentary titled Avicii: True Stories, given a limited theatrical release in November 2017 before being acquired and released by Netflix in December 2018.
In 2021, the Stockholm concert and sports venue, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and later as Ericsson Arena, was renamed Avicii Arena in his memory.
Album/EP discography:
- True (album; 2013)
- True: Avicii by Avicii (remix album; 2014)
- The Days / The Nights (EP; 2014)
- Pure Grinding / For a Better Day (EP; 2015)
- Stories (album; 2015)
- Avīci (01) (EP; 2017)
- Tim (album, posthumous; 2019)
Hey brother… there’s some endless tropes to rediscover:
- Age Cut: The music video for "Friend Of Mine" cuts between a man and a woman who try to connect when they're young adults and senior citizens.
- Cardboard Box of Unemployment: Played with in the music video for "Levels". The opening scene shows a tired, frumpy looking man with a Bankers Box in his arms taking the elevator to a stuffy office space. As he disembarks from the elevator, another worker dumps a mess of files into his already overflowing box. The implication here is that he's using the box to take his work home with him. Although it doesn't signal that he's been fired when it appears, it does foreshadow the man's dismissal from the company later in the video (due to an outbreak of uncontrollable dancing).
- Common Time: "Levels", "Wake Me Up" and "Hey Brother" use this time signature.
- Cowardly Lion: Brody Foxx stars in a music video for "Hey Brother (Avicii By Avicii)". He goes on a turbo drop ride which really freaks him out.
- Dance Party Ending: After the heroes in the music video for "Hey Brother (Avicii By Avicii)" fix the moons, they throw an Avicii disco dance party.
- "Days of the Week" Song: "Waiting for Love" lists all seven days: he's heartbroken Monday through Wednesday, waiting for love on Thursday, partying on Friday and Saturday, and then on Sunday waiting for love again.
- Distinguishing Mark: Avicii's logo is a tattoo that the main characters have in "Wake Me Up!", which sets them apart from the other townspeople.
- Epic Rocking:
- "Dear Boy" from True is almost 8 minutes long (at 7:59), making it one of his longest tracks that isn't a remix.
- The same goes for the last two additional tracks in the Bonus Edition of True, "Canyons" (7:29) and "EDOM" (8:15).
- Face on the Cover: Bergling appears in the cover of all of his full-length albums. For True and Stories, though, his appearance is heavily edited to pure black (in addition to being obscured by the True title text) and rainbow skin with white clothes, respectively.
- Five-Token Band: The dancing doctors in the music video for "Levels" come from various ethnicities like Black, Hispanic, and Asian.
- The Four Chords of Pop: "Levels" follows vi-I-V-IV.
- Gay Aesop: The first music video for "You Be Love" features two female statues trying to embrace while angry statues try to tear them apart. As soon as they kiss each other, the other statues explode.
- Human Traffickers: The music video of "For A Better Day" revolves around this and child sexual slavery. The two kids who escaped the ordeal returned as adults on a murder spree, targeting the men who purchased from the truck and the seller, who became a corrupt political figure.
- Inspired by…: The "Broken Arrows" music video is inspired by the story of Dick Fosbury inventing his signature high jump move, the Fosbury Flop.
- Involuntary Dance: A flower in the music video for "Levels" causes those who touch it to start dancing all over the place.
- It's the Journey That Counts: Paraphrased in "What Would I Change It To".And cutting corners gets you where you're going
But how you get there is the real test - Leet Lingo: "Levels" is often stylised as "LE7ELS".
- Lonely Together: The topic of the song "Lonely Together", though the chorus does say they'll be "a little less lonely together".
- Look Both Ways: Happens to the main character of the music video for "I Could Be The One".
- May the Farce Be with You: The music video for "Hey Brother (Avicii By Avicii)" parodies the Death Star sequence with a large moon that one of the heroes has to power with a giant plug.
- Nerd Glasses: The main character in "Levels" wears a pair.
- Non-Appearing Title: "Levels".
- Ode to Family: "Hey Brother" is a song about sibling love.
- Ode to Youth:
- "Wake Me Up!": "...Wish that I could stay forever this young, not afraid to close my eyes."
- "(These Are) The Days", about making memories of the days we won't regret.
- "The Nights", about making memories of the nights that never die.
- One-Word Title: True, Stories and Tim.
- Opening Scroll: Included in the opening of the music video of "Hey Brother (Avicii By Avicii)".
- Outlaw Couple: A lesbian couple in the music video for "Addicted To You" are partners in crime. They even make out while they're in the middle of robbing a bank.
- Precision F-Strike: One appears in "Without You"And I'm done sitting home without you
Fuck, I'm going out without you - Record Producer: He helped produce tracks for Madonna, Coldplay, David Guetta, and many others.
- Remix Album: He remixed most of the tracks from True (except "Heart Upon My Sleeve"), the result being called True (Avicii by Avicii).
- Ring-Ring-CRUNCH!: In the music video for "I Could Be The One", the main character becomes increasingly frustrated with her alarm clock.
- Sampling: "Levels" samples "Something’s Got a Hold On Me" by Etta James.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the music video for "I Could Be The One", the main character snaps at her work and orders a one-way trip to Barbados.
- Self-Titled Album: His final EP was called Avici (01).
- Sexy Discretion Shot: At the end of the music video for "Lonely Together", the two lead characters are laid down on a mattress, covered in paint, as the girl starts to tear the guy's shirt open. The scene then cuts to a close-up of Rita's face for a few seconds, before going back to the couple, now naked and lovingly embracing.
- Shout-Out:
- The man in "Levels" hallucinates that he's pushing a boulder up a mountain, similar to the punishment given to Sisyphus in Greek Mythology.
- The music video for "You Make Me" is a rollerblading version of the Scott Pilgrim vs. Matthew Patel fight scene in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
- Special Guest: Most vocals on his tracks were by guests, such as Aloe Blacc in "Wake Me Up" and Dan Tyminski in "Hey Brother".
- Taking You with Me: In the music video for "Addicted To You", after the cops take down one of the bank robbers, the other one uses her explosive device to exact revenge on the cops.
- Thicker Than Water: The phrase gets paraphrased in "Hey Brother".Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.
- Thin-Line Animation: The animation style music video for "Hey Brother (Avicii By Avicii)".
- Same for "Wake Me Up (Avicii By Avicii)".
- Time Stands Still: Everyone is frozen in the music video for "Lonely Together", except for the two main lovers.
