Avicii

Avicii brought melodic, pop-facing house music into the global mainstream with records such as “Levels” and “Wake Me Up.” Born Tim Bergling in Stockholm on 8 September 1989, he worked as a DJ, remixer and producer, blending house with folk, country, bluegrass, soul and blues. His productions became central to EDM’s crossover into pop during the 2010s.

Bergling began posting remixes on internet forums at 16 and signed to the Dejfitts Plays label in May 2007. After winning a BBC Radio 1 competition in 2008, he entered a talent-management agreement with Arash Pournouri. “Levels,” released in 2011, became his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2013. He had previously received a Grammy nomination alongside David Guetta for “Sunshine” in 2012.

His debut album, True, arrived in 2013, reaching the top 10 in more than 15 countries and topping charts internationally. Its lead single, “Wake Me Up,” became a most-streamed song on Spotify. Bergling followed it with Stories in 2015 and the 2017 EP Avīci (01), both of which reached number one on Sweden’s Sverigetopplistan chart. His final album, Tim, was released posthumously in 2019 and topped Billboard’s Top Dance Albums chart.

Avicii received four MTV Europe Music Awards, two International Dance Music Awards, an American Music Award and a Billboard Music Award. His work as a touring DJ also made him one of electronic music’s highest-paid performers, with nightly fees estimated at $250,000 or more.

Bergling described himself as shy and experienced anxiety and depression. He was hospitalized in New York City in 2012 with acute pancreatitis caused by alcoholism, later underwent surgery to remove his appendix and gallbladder, and entered drug rehabilitation in 2015. Citing his health, he announced his retirement from touring in March 2016. He died by suicide while on holiday in Muscat, Oman, on 20 April 2018, aged 28.