“I miss him every minute, of course”: Avicii’s father talks about his grief
Avicii’s work existed in the dance realm but his reference points ran increasingly deep as he developed his own preferences and style
. | Credit: Getty ImagesFootage of Avicii’s final performance in Sweden has been uploaded onto Youtube.
The 10 minute professionally-made clip is taken from a gig the DJ and producer played at the Tallriken in Malmo in August 2016. In it he performs four tracks – Without You, Hey Brother, Shame On Me and You Make Me.
The footage was first screened at the Avicii Experience, the tribute museum to the DJ in his hometown of Stockholm. But now it’s been made more widely available.
Before his death in April 2018, Avicii (aka Tim Bergling) was one of the world’s most successful dance producers, riding the wave of the EDM movement and enjoying huge crossover success with the singles Wake Me Up and Hey Brother. Both those hits drew upon the influence from country music and from the vantage point of 2024 can certainly be seen as being ahead of the curve. At the time of his passing – reputedly from suicide, there were no suspicious circumstances - he was just 28 years old.
He remains a huge presence in the pop/ dance world, with over 39 million monthly Spotify listeners. Aside from the museum, tributes have been not slow in arriving. In 2021 the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm was renamed the Avicii Arena and a documentary about his life Avicii – I’m Tim has been made and was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month.
Earlier this month, in an interview with the BBC Avicii’s father Klas Bergling spoke movingly about the tragic circumstances surrounding his son’s death: “I miss him every minute, of course, I talk to him every day,” he said. “But I admit, I get angry at him sometimes. Why did you do it? Why did you leave us?”
And this comes just a few weeks after Hey Brother achieved the landmark of reaching one billion streams – his fifth track to do so (Wake Me Up has so far clocked up over 2 billion).
The featured vocalist on that track, bluegrass musician Dan Tyminski recently reflected on the track, saying “(it’s) by far the most listened to piece of music that I will ever have. I don’t think I will ever have the opportunity to record something that’s reached farther into the corners of the Earth than Hey Brother.
“It was like a beam came out of heaven and dropped this beautiful, amazing song.”
