Avicii

1989–2010: Early life and career

Tim Bergling was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 8 September 1989;^[4] he was the son of Klas Bergling, who ran an office supply business, and actress Anki Lidén.^[5] He had three siblings: David Bergling, Linda Sterner, and actor Anton Körberg.^[6] At age eight, Tim started mixing music in his bedroom.^[7]

Inspired by his brother, who was also a DJ, Bergling began making music at the age of 16;^[8] he taught himself to use a pirated copy of FL Studio.^[5] In May 2007, Bergling signed a recording contract with the Dejfitts Plays record label.^[9] He was a member of the Laidback Luke Internet forum, under the user name "Timberman", where he posted to get feedback on his music.^[10] During this period, he remixed tracks by Little Boots, Robyn, and Dizzee Rascal.^[11] 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.^[12][13]

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,^[14] France,^[15] the Netherlands,^[16] the United Kingdom,^[17] and Sweden.^[18] In 2010, he signed with the European A&R team at EMI Music Publishing.^[19]

2011–2013: "Levels"

"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.^[20][21]

In October 2011, Avicii released "Levels", which launched him into the mainstream.^[11] "Levels" reached the top ten in 15 countries.^[22] The song is considered to be his "career-making early signature song".^[23]

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.^[24]

At Ultra Music Festival 2012 in Miami, Avicii premiered the tracks "Girl Gone Wild" (Avicii's UMF Remix) with Madonna^[25] and "Superlove" with Lenny Kravitz.^[26]

In April 2012, he released "Silhouettes", which features vocals from Salem Al Fakir,^[27] It charted in several European countries.^[28]

In June 2012, after reaching two million followers on Facebook, Avicii released "Two Million".^[29]

In August 2012, Avicii performed at the 2012 Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park in Chicago.^[30]

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.^[31]

Also in August 2012, he released "Dancing in My Head" (Avicii's 'Been Cursed' Mix), featuring vocals from Eric Turner, on Beatport.^[32][33]

In September 2012, Avicii became the first DJ to headline Radio City Music Hall.^[34] At his performance at Radio City Music Hall, he gave a preview of "Stay with You," a collaboration with Mike Posner.^[35]

In November 2012, Avicii's song "Last Dance" was released.^[36]

In December 2012, Avicii released the song "I Could Be the One", a collaboration with Nicky Romero that features Noonie Bao on vocals.^[37] 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.^[38]

In January 2013, Avicii launched a partnership with Ericsson to create the world's first "crowdsourced" hit song.^[39] It led to the song "X You", released in February 2013; Avicii acted as executive producer and created the song.^[40]

Also in January 2013, Avicii released "Three Million" featuring Negin to celebrate his Facebook page reaching three million followers.^[41]

In February 2013, at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Avicii was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording for "Levels".^[42]

From late February to early March 2013, Avicii toured Australia as a headline act in the Future Music Festival alongside The Prodigy and The Stone Roses.^[43]

In late February 2013, he embarked on his first South American tour, with concerts in Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile.^[44]

2013–2014: True

In March 2013, during his Main Stage set at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Avicii premiered new experimental tracks from his new album, True, including the bluegrass-tinged song "Wake Me Up", with a live band including Mac Davis, Dan Tyminski, Audra Mae, Aloe Blacc, Mike Einziger, Ben Kenney, and Jose Pasillis II.^[45][46] Many of the new songs received mixed critical reviews; the audience "booed" him as it was not the house music that they expected.^[47]

That same month, Avicii won Best Artist (Solo) at the 28th Annual International Dance Music Awards.^[48]

In April 2013, Avicii and ex-ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson composed the anthem for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The song was performed for the first time in the final in May 2013.^[49]

In June 2013, "Wake Me Up", featuring vocals from Aloe Blacc was released. It was first reviewed by Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1.^[50][51] It peaked at number one on the Spotify Global Chart, and Avicii was the second-most-streamed artist worldwide.^[52] "Wake Me Up" spent 14 weeks as the number one hit on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, a record at that time.^[45] "Wake Me Up" sold 267,000 copies in its first week on sale and overtook Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" as the UK's fastest-selling single of 2013.^[53] The song peaked at number one in 22 countries.^[54]

In August 2013, Avicii performed "Lay Me Down" with Nile Rodgers and Adam Lambert at Rodgers's fundraiser, "All For The East End".^[55] The song, which was released the following month, features Lambert on vocals and Rodgers on guitar.^[56][57]

True was released in September 2013.^[58]

In October 2013, DJ Mag ranked Avicii third on the 2013 list of "Top 100 DJs".^[59] That same month, Avicii released his single "Hey Brother", with vocals by Dan Tyminski.^[60]

In November 2013, Avicii won his first award—"Best Electronic"—at the MTV Europe Music Awards.^[61][62]

Also in November 2013, he won the American Music Award for Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist.^[63]

In December 2013, Avicii released the album's fourth single, "Addicted to You".^[64] It reached number five in Australia.^[65] It features vocals from Audra Mae,^[66][67] who also sings on the tracks "Shame on Me" and "Long Road to Hell".

In December 2013, Avicii debuted his new track "Dreaming of Me", featuring vocals from Audra Mae, via episode 19 of his podcast LE7ELS.^[68]

In February 2014, his song "Wake Me Up" was Spotify's most-streamed song and became the first song to ever exceed 200 million listeners on the platform.^[69] "Wake Me Up" remained the most-streamed song on the platform for 506 days until it was overtaken by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran's song "Thinking Out Loud" in May 2015.^[70]

In March 2014, Avicii released a remixed edition of his album True titled True: Avicii By Avicii, containing his remixes of all the tracks except "Heart Upon My Sleeve".^[71][72] The album's promotion was supposed to begin at the 2014 Ultra Music Festival, but Avicii was hospitalised on 28 March and was unable to play his closing set at the festival.^[73]

In April 2014, in collaboration with Carlos Santana, Wyclef Jean, and Alexandre Pires, Avicii released the official 2014 FIFA World Cup anthem, "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way)",^[74] which was performed at the closing ceremony in July 2014.^[74] It was also included on the album 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was released in the US in May 2014.^[74]

In May 2014, "Wake Me Up" was nominated for Top Radio Song and won Top Dance/Electronic Song at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.^[75]

Avicii collaborated with Chris Martin from Coldplay, co-writing, co-producing, and playing piano for the track "A Sky Full of Stars" from the band's sixth studio album, Ghost Stories, which was released in May 2014.^[76][77][78]

"Lovers on the Sun", a track Avicii co-produced with David Guetta, was released in June 2014.^[79]

In 2014, Avicii collaborated with Madonna to produce the tracks "Wash All Over Me" and "Rebel Heart" for her 2015 album, Rebel Heart; the tracks were leaked in December 2014.^[80][81]

2014–2015: Stories

"Lose Myself", a collaboration between Avicii and Chinese singer Wang Leehom, was released in September 2014. The song was created as the theme song for the Storm Electronic Music Festival, which will be held in Shanghai from 5 to 6 October.^[82]

Also that month, Avicii canceled his remaining performances that year due to health concerns.^[37]

Also in September 2014, Avicii released a preview of "The Days".^[83] "The Days" is a collaboration between Avicii and Robbie Williams and was released as the first single from Avicii's album Stories in October 2014.^[84] It was included as a bonus track on the album's Japanese versions.^[85]

Also in September 2014, EA Sports announced Avicii was debuting a new track called "The Nights" exclusively on the video game FIFA 15.^[86]

In November 2014, Wyclef Jean released "Divine Sorrow" featuring Avicii that was part of Product Red's campaign "Share the Sound of an AIDS-Free Generation".^[87][88]

Avicii Music AB had revenue of €7.7 million in 2014.^[89]

In March 2015, Avicii performed "Heaven" with Chris Martin on vocals live at Australia's Future Music Festival.^[90]

That month, during his live performance at Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Avicii premiered new tracks from Stories, and in April 2015, he released three full sets on the Internet,^[91] which included "Heaven", "Waiting for Love", and some of his IDs: "For a Better Day", "City Lights", "Can't Catch Me", "True Believer", "What Would I Change It To", "Can't Love You Again" (previously leaked on the Internet under the name "Don't Call"), and "Attack".^[92][91]

In April 2015, on his podcast, Avicii previewed his bootleg of Kings of Tomorrow's song "Finally" and his cover of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" with ASH.^[93]

In May 2015, Avicii released his rework of Nina Simone's version of "Feeling Good".^[94][95]

That month, Avicii previewed his song "I'll Be Gone" via episode 422 of Tiësto's Club Life podcast.^[96] It was leaked on the Internet between 2013 and 2014 via the name "Stars" and is yet to be released. It has a similar drop to one of Avicii's IDs, "Black and Blue".^[97]

Also in May 2015, Avicii premiered "Waiting for Love", which was co-produced by Martin Garrix and features vocals from Simon Aldred of Cherry Ghost.^[98]

In July 2015, Avicii premiered "Broken Arrows" featuring Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band, on Episode 37 of the podcast LE7ELS.^[99]

Avicii was ranked sixth on Forbes's list of "The World's Highest-Paid DJs 2015", published in August 2015, with earnings of US$19 million.^[100]

In August 2015, Avicii released "For a Better Day" featuring Alex Ebert, and "Pure Grinding" featuring vocals from Kristoffer Fogelmark and Earl St. Clair.^[101][102]

In September 2015, Avicii postponed all remaining tour dates for 2015, citing a hectic touring schedule and the pressures of releasing Stories.^[103][104]

That same month, Avicii announced the release of "Stories – Megamix" on the music-streaming platform Spotify.^[105]

Stories was released in October 2015;^[106] it reached number one on the Swedish Sverigetopplistan chart,^[107] the Norwegian VG-lista chart,^[108] and the US Billboard Top Dance Albums chart.^[109]

2016: Retirement from touring

Avicii's logo, which he used throughout his career

In January 2016, The Coca-Cola Company partnered with Avicii to release a global campaign song, "Taste the Feeling", featuring Conrad Sewell.^[110] In March 2016, the song was named as the theme for Coca-Cola's UEFA Euro 2016 ad campaign.^[111]

Also in January 2016, Avicii again worked with Coldplay to co-produce the band's single "Hymn for the Weekend", which was released as the second single from their album A Head Full of Dreams. However, according to Avicii's team, Avicii's involvement in the song was "very minor".^[112]

In early 2016, Avicii embarked on a cross-country U.S. road trip named "The Crowning of Prince Liam", after his dog. The trip included close collaborators Sandro Cavazza, Carl Falk, Dhani Lennevald, and Sebastian Furrer and started in Malibu, California. It was designed as a creative, soul-searching escape from the heavy mental and physical stress of global touring. On the trip, he and his collaborators wrote and recorded music in mobile recording studios in national parks and scenic locations. They made custom jackets for the trip. The road trip culminated in March 2016 at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. During the trip, Avicii and his crew created the song "Without You" and part of "Forever Yours".^[113]

In March 2016, at Ultra Music Festival, Avicii debuted new demos such as "We Burn" featuring Sandro Cavazza,^[114] "Faster Than Light", "Without You", "Our Love" and "Unbreakable".^[115]

Also in March 2016, Avicii posted a message on his website announcing he would be retiring from touring later that year, citing health concerns.^{[116][117][118][119][120]}

In April 2016, he performed at Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as part of his final shows; he performed an unreleased track, "All I Need", featuring Australian singer-songwriter Sia.^[121]

In June 2016, Avicii released a collaboration with Otto Knows titled "Back Where I Belong".^[122]

In July 2016, Avicii released a remix of his song, "Feeling Good", titled "Feeling Good (Avicii by Avicii)".^[123]

In August 2016, at Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel, Avicii performed his final show.^[124]

In December 2016, a representative of Avicii Music AB announced Avicii was no longer working with his long-time manager Arash Pournouri, At Night Management, and Pournouri's record label PRMD. The representative also announced Avicii had signed with Universal Music Sweden and was expected to release his third studio album in 2017.^[125]

2017–2018: Avīci (01) and Avicii: True Stories

In August 2017, Avicii released the six-track EP Avīci (01),^[126] which reached number one on the Swedish Sverigetopplistan chart.^[127] The album's single, "Without You" featuring Sandro Cavazza, was released on the same day as the album's release,^[128] and "Lonely Together" featuring Rita Ora, was released the following day,^[129] reaching number one^[130] and number three, respectively, on the Swedish chart.^[131] Avicii uploaded teasers of each track from the EP upon release.^{[132][133][134]}

In November 2017, a remix package for "Lonely Together" was released, featuring remixes by Alan Walker, DJ Licious, Jaded, and Dexter.^[135][136]

In an interview with Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1, Avicii stated the EP is one of three parts of his third studio album.^[137]

In September 2017, Avicii announced a documentary directed by his long-time collaborator Levan Tsikurishvili titled Avicii: True Stories. The documentary chronicles Avicii's retirement from touring and features interviews from his colleagues David Guetta, Tiësto, Wyclef Jean, Nile Rodgers, and Chris Martin.^[138]

In January 2018, Anderson East released the single "Girlfriend", which was co-written with Avicii for Anderson's album Encore.^[139]

In February 2018, Avicii released "Ghost", a collaboration with Swedish singer-songwriter Daniel Adams-Ray, who is credited as Human. The song, which was leaked on the Internet in 2014/2015 under the title "(I'm Still) In Love with Your Ghost", marks the second collaboration between the two, following "Somewhere in Stockholm" from Avicii's album Stories.^[140]

At the time of his death, Avicii had over 200 unreleased songs, some finished and others still in development;^[141] it was suggested his unreleased material comprised some of his best work.^[142][143]

Posthumous releases and tributes

In April 2019, "SOS" , the lead single for the album Tim, on which Avicii was working before his death, was released.^[144]

The second single from the album, titled "Tough Love", was released in May 2019, including a music video.^[145][146]

The third single, "Heaven", was released in June 2019; it was co-written by Chris Martin.^[147] The music video includes clips of Avicii holidaying in Madagascar after his retirement from touring in 2016.^[148] Billboard cited "Heaven" as one of the best dance songs of the first half of 2019.^[149]

Tim was released in June 2019; the net proceeds from the sale of the album went towards the Tim Bergling Foundation.^[150]

In November 2019, Avicii won Best Swedish Act at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards,^[151] his third win after 2013^[152] and 2018.^[153]

In December 2019, the video game Avicii Invector was released. Gameplay includes single and multiplayer versions and players can recreate 25 of Avicii's songs. A portion of the profits were donated to the Tim Bergling Foundation. Rebecca May of The Guardian rated the game 4/5 stars, describing it as "an immersive musical tribute".^[154]

A tribute concert version of "Fades Away" featuring singer MishCatt was released in December 2019.^[155]

In January 2020, the single "Forever Yours", a collaboration with Kygo and Sandro Cavazza, was released.^[156] The song was first performed at Ultra Music Festival in 2016.^[115] Kygo and Sandro Cavazza performed the song live at the Avicii Tribute Concert at Stockholm's Friends Arena in December 2019.^[157]

In February 2020, Tiësto premiered three unreleased Avicii singles on his radio show Tiësto's Club Life: a fifth collaboration with Aloe Blacc called "I Wanna Be Free", a fifth collaboration with Sandro Cavazza called "We Burn", and a fifth collaboration with Wyclef Jean called "Now That We Found Love".^[158]

In April 2020, Avicii's album Tim won Best Album at the 2020 International Dance Music Awards.^[159]

In June 2020, "Wake Me Up" was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[160]

In October 2020, Cam released the track "The Otherside", which Avicii co-wrote. The version included on the eponymous album does not feature the DJ's original instrumentals, which were removed to align with the album's country style, but it retains the lyrics written by Avicii.^[161]

A biography titled Tim – The Official Biography of Avicii, written by Måns Mosesson, was released in the UK and North America in November 2021.^[162][163] While writing the biography, Mosesson was given access to Avicii's emails, text messages, voice memos, and journal entries, and he conducted hundreds of interviews with individuals from Bergling’s personal and professional life.^[164] Kitty Empire of The Guardian described it as "An honest study of the shy young man turned superstar DJ".^[165]

A second tribute concert was held at the Avicii Arena in December 2021,^[166] and a third tribute concert, titled "Together for a Better Day", was held at the same venue in December 2023.^[167]

In February 2024, Avicii's remix of "Beautiful Drug" by Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band was released.^[168]

In April 2024, it was announced the documentary Avicii – I'm Tim would premiere at the Tribeca Festival in June 2024.^[169] Directed by Henrik Burman, the film features interviews with David Guetta, Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers, and others.^[170]

In May 2024, a SiriusXM radio channel titled "Avicii Radio: Music for a Better Day" was launched.^{[171][172][173]}

In June 2024, Måns Mosesson published a photo book depicting Avicii's childhood and life, The Life and Music of Tim Bergling, proceeds from which were donated to the Tim Bergling Foundation.^[174]

In December 2024, Netflix released Avicii's final live performance, titled Avicii: My Last Show, which took place in August 2016 at Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel.^[175] The performance was simultaneously released with the documentary Avicii – I'm Tim.^[176]

In February 2025, the single "Forever Yours (Tim's 2016 Ibiza Version)" was released. The song was finished in 2016, but since the documentary's release, pressure to release the song has increased.^[177] A "Creative Journey" video was posted on the same day as the song's release; it features rare studio footage of Avicii listening to the demo with friends and performing it at his last concert.^[178] Collaborator Sandro Cavazza criticized the release of the song without permission from Avicii.^[179]

A greatest hits album, Avicii Forever, was released in May 2025.^[180]

In November 2025, the first episode of the documentary "Stories on Stories" was released on YouTube.^[181] The three-part series includes previously unseen archival footage of studio sessions from 2014 and 2015 that produced some songs on Stories (2015).^[182] Episode Two was released in December 2025.^[183]

Influences

Daft Punk (top) and Swedish House Mafia (bottom) were both influences on Avicii's music.

On his influences, Avicii has stated:

Initially when starting out, sound-wise it was mostly the Swedish house producers, mainly Eric Prydz and Axwell, but also Steve Angello and Seb Ingrosso. Nowadays for some, this is quite a different question. Id say the musicians that has influenced me the most in terms of lyrics, melody and arrangement has been: Earth wind and fire, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Etta James, Coldplay, [Red Hot Chili Peppers], [System of a Down], Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Little Dragon, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford and Sons, The Beatles, Nile Rodgers – I could go on forever here (Guess I kind of already have :) – BUT my production, meaning the electronic music that is always there, sometimes more apparent and sometimes not as much, I still owe to Eric Prydz, [Swedish House Mafia] and Daft Punk.^[184][185]

Musical style

Avicii's early work was in deep house and progressive house styles, usually based on a four-chord structure, sub-bass, and a simple synth melody.^[3] His debut studio album, True, blends musical genres, including folktronica.^[2] While making the album, Avicii wanted to fuse electronic music with soul, funk, blues, folk, and country because he felt EDM had become too focused on "dirty drops".^[186] Its first single, "Wake Me Up", is a folk music crossover, which, according to Katie Bain of The Observer, "tapped into the market potential of mixing EDM and country, a template many artists have since recreated".^[187] A Variety editor commented Avicii's "distinct sound" consists of "soaring synths and keening melodies".^[2] Ian Youngs of the BBC noted Avicii's biggest hits have elements in common: "insistent, escapist" house music production, guest vocals to "lend accessibility and depth", and "irresistible" melodies.^[188] Musicians such as Kygo, Skrillex, Diplo, Gryffin, Martin Garrix, and Cheat Codes cited Avicii as a source of inspiration.^[189]

Relationships

Avicii met Emily Goldberg, an American student, in 2011; they dated for two years.^[5][191] He then dated Racquel Bettencourt, a Canadian student and model with whom he lived in California; the couple separated in late 2014.^[5] On the podcast Sofia with an F, Bettencourt said she and Avicii restarted their relationship in 2016; a pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage.^[192] At the time of his death, he was dating Tereza Kačerová, a Czech model; they kept their relationship private.^[5]

Health

When Avicii was a teenager, he smoked marijuana for the first time, leading to feelings of paranoia and derealization. Avicii confessed his substance use to his parents and expressed concern of a psychosis. They took him to a child psychologist.^[193]

Avicii suffered from anxiety and depression.^[5][165] He was self-conscious of his appearance, specifically his nose and acne.^[193] As a shy person, being recognized by fans in public, performing, and a grueling tour schedule caused him to drink alcohol as a coping mechanism.^[193] He also had poor eating habits and did not sleep much.^[193] He wore caps because he thought his hair looked bad.^[194]

"I just got into a habit, because you rely on that encouragement and self-confidence you get from alcohol, and then you get dependent on it." - Avicii in 2013^[195]

In January 2012, Avicii was hospitalised for 11 days in New York City with acute pancreatitis that was caused by alcoholism.^[5][196] Between 2012 and 2014, Avicii was prescribed opioids for the pain caused by his pancreatitis, including OxyContin and Vicodin, to which he developed an addiction. To wean himself off the addiction, in 2014, he began taking buprenorphine/naloxone, a milder opioid.^[164] He said that "Of course, I didn't listen to the majority of doctors".^[193] In addition to changing his habits, doctors recommended that Avicii have his gallbladder removed; however, he put off the surgery due to a busy schedule. As a result, his appendix ruptured.^[193][197]

In March 2014, Avicii underwent surgery and had both his appendix and gallbladder removed.^[198]

In 2015, after his father, his manager Ash Pournouri and his tour manager, his bodyguard, and his older brother staged an intervention for him in Ibiza, after several hours of resistance, Avicii agreed to enter a drug rehabilitation facility.^[164]

He announced in March 2016 he would be retiring from touring.^[5] In the documentary Avicii: True Stories (2017), directed by his close and longtime collaborator Levan Tsikurishvili, Avicii spoke about his physical and mental health struggles. The documentary depicts the pressure from his management to continue performing live in spite of his objections.^[199]

Following his retirement, Avicii took up Transcendental Meditation, which he credited with reducing his anxiety, and started seeing a therapist.^[165] In the summer of 2017, he traveled to the Amazon rainforest in Peru to drink ayahuasca.^[164] Before his death, he was working with a trainer, eating healthy foods, studying philosophy, and meditating.^[164] He read Science of Being and Art of Living by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.^[164]

Avicii's manager, Arash Pournouri, said he knew of Avicii's anxieties but refused to label them a problem of mental health. His management team became aware of Avicii's painkiller addiction in November 2014, and they staged two unsuccessful interventions for him. Pournouri rescheduled many shows to allow Avicii to recover in Stockholm. Having discovered his client's alcoholism, Pournouri forbade promoters from offering Avicii alcohol, clearing out his minibar and focusing on his recovery. Issues worsened when there was no crew to stop Avicii during his recuperation.^[200] Pournouri met with Avicii's father, Klas, in 2014 to share concerns about Avicii's health.^[5]

Pournouri claimed to have cancelled two more world tours, against Avicii's wishes, which would have earned up to approximately US$2.9 million in profits.^[200]

Hobbies

Avicii enjoyed playing World of Warcraft as well as Grand Theft Auto V.^[194]

Residence

In 2013, Avicii bought a 7,000 square-foot house on one-third of an acre in Hollywood Hills for $15.5 million. It was sold for $17.5 million just after his death.^[201]

Estate

Avicii died without a will and testament. Per Swedish law, his assets, including financial assets valued at $25.5 million/£20 million/SEK231 million after settling debts and paying expenses, went to his parents.^[215] In September 2022, Avicii's family sold 75% of his master recordings and publishing rights to Pophouse Entertainment; they retained a 25% interest to maintain some creative control over use. The deal was estimated to be worth "nine figures", or over $100 million, and proceeds were donated to the Tim Bergling Foundation to ensure that it will be able to fund its general expenses in the long term.^[216][217]

Tributes

Other tributes

In April 2018, Malgosia Fiebig played a collection of Avicii's songs on the carillon of bells within the Dom Tower of Utrecht.^[242]

In May 2018, during the first night of the finale of the 14th season of The Voice, coach Alicia Keys performed Avicii's "Wake Me Up" as part of her coach duet with the last remaining artist on her team, Britton Buchanan.^[243]

In November 2018, Bergling's family organised a public memorial service at Hedvig Eleonora Church in Stockholm, Sweden.^[244] Hundreds of fans filled the church to mourn and pay their respects. The service featured an orchestral choir that played music linked to events in Avicii's life and ended with a version of his 2013 song "Wake Me Up".^[245][246]

At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in February 2019, tributes were set aside for Avicii, Mac Miller, and Aretha Franklin, who all died in 2018.^[247]

In April 2019, a billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, included the words "TIM BERGLING: 1989 – FOREVER" underneath the Avicii logo.^[248]

In April 2019, the Mounted Royal Guards and the Life Guards' Dragoon Music Corps of the Swedish Army paid tribute to Avicii during a ceremony at Stockholm Palace, where brass renditions of his songs "Without You", "Hey Brother" and "Wake Me Up" were played.^[249][250]

The 2019 edition of Tomorrowland included a tribute in the decoration of the festival's main stage. The theme was books; one of the books had the words: "In loving memory of Tim Bergling".^[251]

In October 2019, Madame Tussauds in New York City revealed a wax figure of Avicii.^[252]

In December 2019, a sold-out tribute concert was held in Stockholm featuring David Guetta, Kygo, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Nicky Romero, and Laidback Luke headlining, along with vocalists with whom Avicii had worked, playing alongside a 30-piece orchestra, fulfilling one of Avicii's dreams for his music in a live setting. All profits went to the Tim Bergling Foundation.^[253][254]

In May 2021, the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm was renamed the Avicii Arena. To commemorate the new name, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra recorded a performance of the Avicii song "For a Better Day", with vocals provided by Ella Tiritiello.^[255][256]

In April 2023, five years after his death, Avicii's biggest hits and the album Stories were played all day on Tomorrowland's One World Radio.^[257]

In July 2025, a memorial space was set up at Tomorrowland called "Avicii Forever: The Tribute", where fans watched exclusive and archived footage of Avicii.^[258][259]

Music innovation

Many artists in the electronic dance music (EDM) genre have cited Avicii as an influence on their work, and many of these paid tribute to him after his death. Alan Walker and DubVision described him as an "icon" in EDM.^[262] Norwegian DJ Kygo cited Avicii as "[his] biggest inspiration and the reason why [he] started making electronic music". Other artists, such as Diplo, Sebastian Ingrosso, Felix Jaehn, and Martin Garrix, the last of whom collaborated with Avicii on his 2015 single "Waiting for Love", have also cited him as a source of inspiration. The songs "Levels" and "Seek Bromance" were named as points of inspiration.^[189]

On the day of Avicii's death, The Washington Post wrote an article calling him a pioneer artist who attempted to bridge the gap between country and electronic music, crediting his 2013 hits "Wake Me Up" and "Hey Brother" as examples of this movement.^[263] Avicii is also credited for influencing other attempts at continuing this genre crossover, including songs such as Zedd's "The Middle" and Hailee Steinfeld's "Let Me Go".^[264]

Writing the day after Avicii's death, Marcus Dowling of Mixmag described him as the artist "most responsible for the mainstream pop crossover success of electronic music", said his 2011 single "Levels" had "elevated electro into the pop cultural stratosphere" and that Avicii had become "a living legend".^[265] Several publications credit Avicii as one of the DJs who took electronic music to Top 40 radio in the early 2010s.^[266][267] He is also considered one of the most popular and most successful EDM artists of all time.^[35]

Avicii influenced several mainstream artists outside electronic music. Nile Rodgers said, in terms of melody writing, Avicii was "maybe one of the best, if not the best I've ever worked with".^[268] Mike Einziger of Incubus said, "Some of the work we did together is some of the music I'm most proud of in my whole life".^[269] Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons said, "working with [Avicii] was one of my favorite collaborative moments".^[270] Charlie Puth said Avicii was "The man who really opened my eyes as to what my productions could one day sound like".^[270] Eric Clapton said he was "inspired by Avicii" and dedicated a song off his Christmas album, Happy Xmas, to him.^[271]

In November 2019, Billboard named Avicii's 2011 hit "Levels" one of the 100 songs that define the 2010s,^[272] while his 2013 single "Wake Me Up" came 13th and was the highest-charting EDM song^[273][274] on the Official Charts Company's chart of the decade.^[275]

Tim Bergling Foundation

In March 2019, Bergling's family launched the Tim Bergling Foundation, focusing on mental illness and suicide prevention.^[276] The foundation works internationally and aims to educate people and businesses about suicide and mental health.^[277] The foundation also works to mitigate climate change, manage business development, and conserve endangered species.^[278] Since 2019, several music industry figures have cited Avicii's death as a reason for the increased awareness of mental health in the industry.^{[279][280][281]}

Avicii Experience Museum

Inspired by ABBA The Museum, the Avicii Experience opened in February 2022 with a ceremony by Prince Carl Phillip and Princess Sofia, alongside Bergling's father, Klas, in Space Stockholm, a digital-culture centre near Sergels torg.^{[282][283][284]} The museum features reconstructions of Bergling's childhood bedroom and Los Angeles mansion and offers the ability to remix recordings of Avicii's most popular works and unreleased music.^[283] The museum was the idea of Bergling's parents, who wanted to give fans a place to remember and celebrate the work of Avicii and learn about his music-creation process. The interactive museum also includes exhibitions depicting several stages in Avicii's life, including a simulation of the high-paced lifestyle he experienced before his retirement from touring in 2016. These exhibits are designed to give visitors an understanding of the health issues Avicii faced. Exhibitions are also dedicated to raising awareness of mental health problems in young people and the wider music industry.^{[285][286][287]}