One year later, that fateful morning of April 20th, 2018 that shook the industry from its core remains clear as day.
When the news of Avicii a.k.a. Tim Bergling’s passing away began to make its way across from Oman, there was a sense of disbelief which turned to sheer grief momentarily as the news began to sink in.
Since then, it has become a well-established fact that his legacy will live on and precede him. Amongst fans and artists alike, the award-winning producer has garnered nothing but admiration and respect for his groundbreaking work in the industry. The very same industry to the pressures of which he succumbed and resorted to taking his own life.
As is aptly put on a billboard seen on Sunset Boulevard, LA as reported by EDM.com, his legacy will surely live on forever!
The industry took time out to recognize and highlight the impact Avicii had on them in their own ways. The Diamondback compiled some of them and reminded us of his musical genius. Grammy winner Wyclef Jean said of the Swedish DJ’s musical acumen, “He’s doing this as Bach did what he did.” Steve Aoki said Avicii “wrote that term [of EDM] into existence” for a larger audience.
“Avicii was the best natural melody writer I have met in my life,” legendary producer Nile Rodgers said. “He just had this magical gift for hearing melody.”
While many questions were left unanswered about what happened that fateful night and what lead him to take the grave steps he did to take his life, there is hope that his posthumous album TIM will give us some closure. Berglings team announced that his new album was close to completion at the time of his passing and his collaborators and artists took it upon them to give it the finishing touches and it will be released later this year. The first track from the album with his longtime collaborator Aloe Blacc released earlier this month aptly titled “SOS.”
Avicii was also awarded a posthumous award at Sweden’s annual Grammy Gala (Grammisgalan) back in February of 2019. His father Klaus Bergling accepted the award on his behalf and gave a touching acceptance speech regarding the awareness we needed to have for others like his son who were overcome with the pressures of the industry.
The family have continued grieving a year in and have finally decided to beat the silence and announced two major pieces of news over the last month or so. Along with the posthumous album which will be releasing in June this year, they also announced the formation of a charitable organization called the Tim Bergling Foundation. The main aim of the foundation is to provide support groups for those faced with mental health and suicide prevention.
While the documentary Avicii – True Stories brought to light the darker side of the industry that went unseen, in an article by NY Times his friends and family opened up about how they didn’t see this coming at all and in fact felt like Bergling was happier then he had been around that period. In spite of quitting his highly lucrative touring career back in 2016, the pressures seemingly persisted and lead Avicii to take the steps he eventually did.
While his death did rock the world of music, it also started the conversation about the importance of mental health and addressing it before it’s too late. In addition to the formation of the Tim Bergling Foundation, Klas Bergling will also be speaking at one of dance music’s most prestigious congregations, IMS in Ibiza to address the issue.
On that note, all day today in honor of Avicii’s first death anniversary, Tomorrowland Radio will be dedicating an entire day to remembering the Swedish DJ and Producer. Every hour, one of the many legendary Avicii tracks will be played and at 14:00 CET, an hour-long best of Avicii mix will be played. One World Radio is Tomorrowland online radio station and is available with the Tomorrowland app or on tomorrowland.com.
What is your favourite memory of Tim? Don’t forget to share it in the comments’ section below.
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