Latest news with #TimBergling
Pink Villa
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Avicii's Heartbreaking Last Words Revealed 7 Years After His Tragic Death, Along With His Posthumous Album
Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of su*cide and death Avicii, whose real name was Tim Bergling, wrote a heartbreaking message the day before he died. Seven years after he tragically took his own life, his team has revealed the final diary entry of late Swedish DJ and electronic music legend. They have also released a 19-track posthumous album titled Avicii Forever to honor his life and legacy. His last words: "The shedding of the soul is the last attachment, before it restarts!" Avicii was found dead on April 20, 2018, in Muscat, Oman, after reportedly committing suicide by cutting himself with a broken wine bottle. His death shocked the EDM world and devastated millions of fans. Struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse, Avicii had stopped touring in 2016. In an open letter released by his family at the time, they described him as a "fragile artistic soul" and an 'overachieving perfectionist' who "wanted to find peace." A documentary released last year, I'm Tim, offered a deeper look into his mental health struggles. Featuring several interviews, the film received a standing ovation at the Tribeca Film Festival. It included never-before-seen footage, which gave an insight into Avicii's battle with anxiety and depression. Jesse Waits, a close friend of the DJ, recalled how exhausted and disconnected Avicii became in his final months, comparing him to a "zombie" strung out on painkillers. During one dinner, Avicii was "not there" even though his eyes were "wide open", Waits said. Musician Aloe Blacc, who worked with the DJ on his hit Wake Me Up, said that Avicii's song SOS from his posthumous album Tim was a "cry for help" that came "way too late." Avicii began making music as a teenager in Stockholm and rose to fame with hits like Levels, Hey Brother, and Wake Me Up. He performed at more than 800 events in just six years. For years, Avicii struggled with the pressures of fame and eventually took help of alcohol to keep going. In the documentary, he said, "I was killing myself. The touring went even crazier because the fees were getting higher… everything went so fast from that point on." Disclaimer: If you know someone who is having su*cidal thoughts, anxiety, or depression, or is suffering from a serious mental illness, reach out to a nearby doctor, mental health expert, or an NGO for immediate help. There are several helplines available for the same.
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Avicii's final words are revealed in his last diary entry - as his posthumous album Avicii forever is released
The final words of electronic music genius Avicii were revealed in a diary entry before the DJ tragically died by suicide seven years ago. The Swedish native, who died age 28, wrote in his journal for the final time the day before his untimely death and made a cryptic reference to rebirth. The heartbreaking final entry in the diary was the last thoughts of global sensation Avicii - whose real name was Tim Bergling. His words read: 'The shedding of the soul is the last attachment, before it restarts!' April 20 marked seven years since the anniversary of Avicii's death in 2018, leaving his worldwide fanbase shocked over his sudden passing. The Swedish musician - real name Tim Bergling - took his own life after struggling with substance abuse and his mental health for several years. His team have now released a 19-track posthumous album - Avicii Forever - to honour the life and talent of the musician. At the time of his death, his family shared an open letter discussing the heartbreak over their loss. It read: 'Our beloved Tim was a seeker, a fragile artistic soul searching for answers to existential questions. 'An over-achieving perfectionist who travelled and worked hard at a pace that led to extreme stress. 'When he stopped touring, he wanted to find a balance in life to be able to be happy and to do what he loved most - music. 'He really struggled with thoughts about meaning, life, happiness,' it continued. 'He could now not go on any longer. He wanted to find peace. 'Tim was not made for the business machine he found himself in; he was a sensitive guy who loved his fans but shunned the spotlight. 'Tim, you will forever be loved and sadly missed. The person you were and your music will keep your memory alive.' A documentary released last year - I'm Tim - features Avicii himself giving a haunting narration from an interview given late in his career. A friend who spoke about the last month's of his life revealed that Avicii was so strung out on painkillers towards the end of his life that he looked like a 'zombie'. The late Swedish DJ and EDM producer overdid it so much that the blacks of his eyes looked like 'pins', said Jesse Waits, who became like an older brother to him. During one dinner Avicii was 'not there' even though his eyes were 'wide open', Waits said. He says that he suffered from crippling anxiety and admits that 'I was killing myself' with his relentless touring. Avicii's dream was not having to be 'grinding constantly' and pushing himself to work ever harder but he couldn't stop. In a bone chilling moment one of Avicii's most famous collaborators said that SOS, the first single from his posthumous album Tim, was a secret cry for help. Aloe Blacc, who sang on Avicii's mega hit Wake Me Up, said that it was a warning they heard 'way too late.' The documentary, which got rapturous applause at Tribeca from a theater full of Avicii fans, features appearances by some of Avicii's most famous collaborators including disco legend Nile Rogers and Chris Martin of Coldplay. They reflect on the toll that touring took on Avicii, who became famous before he was 20 and performed more than 800 shows in six years, sometimes playing in two cities in one night. But he struggled with mental health issues, drug and alcohol use and was forced to stop touring in 2016 at the age of 26. Avicii was found dead in the city of Muscat, Oman, after reportedly cutting himself with a broken wine bottle and bleeding to death. After his death, his family released an open letter saying that he was an 'overperforming perfectionist.' They said that he 'could not go on any more' and 'wanted peace' for himself. 'I'm Tim' details how Avicii grew up in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and was so sheltered that he spent most of his first 19 years in a five block radius, which included his school. In the film he says even back then he was 'insecure' and only had three or four close friends. Avicii admits he 'wasn't a nice person' to other kids and blamed his anxieties. He changed his ways one summer and became a people pleaser. At school his friends remembered him as a computer geek and photos shown in the documentary depict Avicii with severe acne in his youth. At school he met Filip Akesson, the DJ known as Philgood, and the two of them began making music together, skipping school to spend hours in Avicii's bedroom. Avicii began uploading his music to house music blogs and soon he caught the notice of Swedish promoter Arash Pournouri, who promised to make him a star. Given Avicii's astonishing gifts for creating a melody, within a year he was already an in-demand DJ. As he says in the film: 'I went from being young, from school, to touring.' One of Avicii's early hits was Alcoholic with the now prophetic refrain: 'Call it what you wanna call it, I'm a f****** alcoholic.' He chose the name Avicii because Tim Bergling was already taken on MySpace, the early social media platform, and so was Avici, the name for one of the 28 hells in Hinduism and Buddhism. In the beginning the touring was a dream and Avicii says that it 'didn't feel real'. He was 'young and hungry' and loved the lifestyle. Avicii's career went up another notch with the release of Levels in 2011 which became an international hit. And by the time Wake Me Up, the lead single from his debut album, True, was released in 2013, he was asking almost $750,000 to play live. Yet appearing on stage was not easy for Avicii, who was naturally introverted. In the film Avicii says: 'I realized how stiff I was when I wasn't drinking so I found the magical cure of having a couple of drinks before going on to loosen you up.' 'I just took everything on that I could. I didn't realize you could do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday but once that opened up you could tour the whole year.' 'I was killing myself. The touring went even more crazy because the fees were getting higher… everything went so fast from that point on.' The toll on Avicii's health began to mount and in January 2012 he was taken to hospital with pancreatitis, a condition caused by excessive drinking which is normally seen in middle aged men. Doctors told him to stay sober for six months or his stomach would not heal. Writing in his diaries, Avicii said he had a 'hard time accepting never drinking again' and admits he only listened to the doctors who told him to drink in moderation. In February 2013, Avicii was rushed to hospital in Australia after his pancreas became inflamed for a second time. He lost a significant amount of weight which left friends and his family deeply concerned. Avicii says in the film that he knew his decision not to rest and recover from pancreatitis was going to 'bite me in the a**' but he did it anyway. He says: 'I was a lot happier before I was famous than after I was famous. I started feeling very unhappy. I was on autopilot mode. I started really f***** wondering why I was feeling like this. I had been acting away because this is how you're supposed to be acting.' 'I think I didn't give myself enough time to figure out if there was something I wanted to change.' Waits, the managing partner of Las Vegas nightclub XS, tells the film that Avicii 'lost himself' amid his success. Waits says that he regarded Avicii as a 'younger brother' and encouraged him to take a new, more personal direction in his career. The result was songs like Wake Me Up which had a bluegrass influence and became a worldwide hit. But there were bumps along the road, including Avicii's infamous 2013 set at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami where EDM fans were shocked to see him playing songs from his new album Stories with a live band. Waits said that Avicii was 'really broken about it' and refused to leave his room. 'He was shattered, looking at the Twitter and Instagram feeds', he says. In the following years, Avicii was taken to hospital twice more and needed his stomach pumped for drinking too much and taking prescription drugs. An intervention by his family left Avicii initially 'furious', his father Klas tells the film, but he agreed to go into a $13,000 a week rehab center in Ibiza. Still, Waits was left deeply disturbed after one dinner in Stockholm where Avicii seemed out of it. Waits told his friend he was making more money in one gig than some people make in their lives and had a supportive family. From the outside there was no clue of Avicii's inner turmoil, Waits says. He tells the moviemakers: 'I realized he was taking painkillers. I grew up with family that did drugs and I saw when people do opiates their eyes change. The pin, the little black parts of their eyes.' 'His eyes were wide open like a zombie, he was not there. At the dinner, his demeanor changed and his eyes dilated.' 'That changed everything, those pills change how you act and how you feel. You wake up feeling like s*** and have to have another one to feel good.' 'For him it was to suppress his anxiety but it just created more anxiety.' In the most powerful parts of the film, Avicii describes in detail his struggles and says that he was 'so anxious' all the time. 'I could feel it physically', he says. 'It was like a stone in my guts, and it was constant, a constant emotion.' Avicii tried psychiatrists, doctors and various diets, he says, but it was all 'stupid stuff' that wasn't the real problem. 'It's really hard. It got to a point where I didn't like it (touring and making music) any more.' He went on: 'It's me trying to be something that isn't me. The dream would be to be completely at ease with what I have already and not have any aspirations to do a billion other things, not be grinding constantly… then I'll be happy.' 'I want to be free from the ideas of living life. That kept me from living a life… that would be life for me, being content.' Avicii brands guidance from his record label that he had to capture the audience's attention in five seconds as 'stupid.' With his voice becoming audibly angry, he complains how he was 'thrown into an industry where it's about chasing how many views you have, how many comments - it's become almost impossible to stay away from.' He says: 'You can't have a meeting with somebody in the industry without them mentioning 60 times different statistics and why this is better than that.' Avicii's decision to stop touring in 2016 led to him being the happiest he had been since he was 18, he says. He was trying out transcendental meditation and friends said that he was in a good place making music with new collaborators. But Avicii's demons never left him and he told friends he was still in great pain. The day before he died, a fellow traveler in Oman called his father to express concern over Avicii's meditation practices. He said Avicii was crying, not speaking, refusing to eat and sitting in the blistering sun. Among Avicii's final messages to friends including one unsettling text which said: 'The shedding of the soul is the last attachment, before it restarts!' In the documentary, Aloe Blacc, the singer on Wake Me Up, says that Avicii could have been using his music to say just how hard life was for him. He says: 'I wonder what made him write the lyrics to SOS, what was he thinking when he wrote those first lines?' The lyrics to the song begin 'Can you hear me? SOS, help me put my mind to rest.' Blacc says: 'It seemed as though we had this call for help and I'm receiving this letter from Tim way too late.' Avicii's suicide shocked the EDM community and in the days after his death, it emerged that he had been dating Czech-American model Tereza Kačerová, and was a doting step-father to her young son. In the statement released by his family, they said that he 'battled thoughts about the meaning of life and happiness.' They said: 'When he stopped touring, he wanted to find a balance in life to feel good and be able to do what he loved the most - music.' 'Tim was not made for the machinery he ended up in, he was a sensitive guy who loved his fans, but shunned the spotlight,' the statement read. 'Tim, you will forever be loved and missed. Who you were and your music will carry on the memory of you.'
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Avicii Earns His First Hit, 'Ryu,' On One Chart Years After His Passing
Avicii's early track 'Ryu' debuts on three U.K. charts thanks to a Record Store Day vinyl reissue, ... More marking his first appearance on the Vinyl Singles list. Swedish DJ Avicii (Tim Bergling), portrait in Stockhom, 4th July 2011. (Photo by Richard Ecclestone/Redferns) It's been six years since the world lost Avicii, but the superstar DJ and producer's music remains a favorite among million of listeners. Just a few months ago, when Netflix rolled out several films connected to the Swedish musician, his catalog soared. Now, just a short time after scoring multiple new posthumous wins, one of the artist's oldest tunes – one which only diehard supporters will remember from when it was new – has become a hit in the United Kingdom. 'Ryu' — a track originally released before Avicii became a household name — debuts on a trio of charts in the U.K. this frame. On the Official Physical Singles ranking, the tune launches at No. 37. It appears in the exact same spot on the Official Vinyl Singles list. When it comes to the Official Singles Sales roster, which includes all purchased tracks regardless of medium, 'Ryu' enters a bit lower, starting at No. 74. With 'Ryu' now officially present on the charts, Avicii scores his nineteenth hit on the Official Singles Sales ranking. So far, the producer has sent just four tunes to the Official Physical Singles tally throughout his career. His presence on that list is fairly sparse, but still growing to this day, years after his passing. This week marks the very first time Avicii has appeared on the Official Vinyl Singles chart. That may come as a surprise, given how popular vinyl has become in recent years, but 'Ryu' is his inaugural hit on the format-specific roster. Despite being new to the U.K. rankings, 'Ryu' is not actually a brand new song. The track was first released all the way back in 2009, when Avicii was only just becoming a rising name in the EDM world. At the time, he hadn't yet broken through on a global level, but cuts like this one helped him build the following that would later support his massive commercial success. The track becomes a hit as it was reissued for Record Store Day in the U.K. The limited-edition re-release seems to have reignited interest in the sometimes-forgotten tune, and it may now be in the hands of not just those who loved it when it first dropped, but also some fans who fell in love with Avicii with his global wins, and are now looking to connect with him and his work in any way they can. According to the official listing for the Record Store Day release, a portion of the profits from the vinyl sales will benefit Papyrus, a U.K. charity dedicated to preventing suicide among young people. Avicii, born Tim Bergling, died by suicide in 2018 at the age of 28. Since then, his family has worked to support mental health initiatives, such as this special re-release of one of his earliest singles.
