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Swedish DJ Avicii. Photo by The Perfect World Foundation.

Top 10 Remarkable facts about Avicii

Avicii was a Swedish music producer, DJ, and remixer. He was known officially as Tim Bergling and was born on the 8th of September 1989.

Avicii whose name he explained meant the lowest level of Buddhist hell gained fame with his hit single ‘levels’.

He started posting his remixes on the media at the age of 16 following in the footsteps of his brother.

His debut studio album called True was a blend of electronic music with elements of multiple genres and peaked in the top 10 in more than 15 countries. Avicii was also an alcoholic and abused drugs that led to numerous health complications.

Ranked one of the best and most influential DJs of all time Avicii committed suicide on the 20th of April 2018.

Tim succumbed to his lifelong struggle with mental health and stress at the age of 28.

Here are 10 remarkable facts about Avicii:

1. Bergling’s blend of music genres made him popular

Tim started making remixes at a tender age and uploading them on electronic music forums leading to his first record deal.

He got so famous because of his mix of genres and instruments to create a new wave of sound.

His music which was classified as a deep and progressive house was based on a four-chord structure, sub-bass, and a simple synth melody.

He is also known to blend Folktronica. This is a genre of music that comprises various elements of folk music and electronica and often features uses of acoustic instruments incorporating hip-hop, electronic, or dance rhythms.

2. He began House of Hunger in 2011

Avicii performing in Paris.Photo by Jalil Arfaoui.

The house of Hunger was a tour organized by the manager and executive producer Ash Pournouri and Avicii in 2011.

The house of Hunger announced in 2011 was set to donate the musician’s entire income from the tour to the charity Feeding America.

Avicii was a strong philanthropist who believed in giving something back to the community.

Avicii supported campaigns against human trafficking and gang violence when he directed the videos for his tracks.

He wanted to showcase the giving spirit fostered by the house music community. House of Hunger donated $1 million to Feeding America and helped fund the efforts of The Feed Foundation.

This allowed it to distribute over 2 million school meals throughout Africa.

3. His brother inspired him to become a DJ

Avicii’s love for the art of remixes began when he watched his brother perform. 

Avicii had three siblings David Bergling, Linda Sterner, and his half-brother actor Anton Körberg. He had started mixing in his bedroom at the age of eight.

He grew to enjoy the craft creating new progressive music year by year. The iconic musician was signed to his first major record deal at the age of 16.

He renamed himself Avicii which meant the lowest level of Buddhist hell. He chose the moniker because his real name was already used upon creating his Myspace page.

4. He posted his remixes at the age of 16

Avicii. Photo by Shawn Tron.

Avicii become famous at the tender age of 16.

He had initially begun remixing at the age of 8. He taught himself to use a pirated copy of FL Studio to make music.

In 2007 he signed on with the Dejfitts Plays label and was a member of the Laidback Luke Forums. Here he refined his craft and, at times, demonstrated his distinct deep house style.

5. Bergling started seeing a therapist at the age of 14

Avicii’s anxiety began at an early age. His parents took him to a therapist at the age of 14. When he became famous this become worse.

He was always in the spotlight everything he did was scrutinized. He was under a lot of pressure and stress managing and performing world tours.

He feared upsetting his fans and tried as much as possible not to cancel gigs. After his health deteriorated in 2016 he retired and took up transcendental meditation.

He claimed it reduced his anxiety and even started seeing a therapist again.

6. Arash Pournouri tried to control Avicii’s alcohol addiction

The Swedish DJ Avicii. Photo by The Perfect World Foundation.

Arash Pournouri was Avicii’s manager and executive producer. He was aware of Bergling’s struggle with Anxiety but failed to treat it as a major problem.

Bergling was also an alcoholic and was once hospitalized for 11 days with acute pancreatitis caused by excessive alcohol use in 2012.

Two years later he underwent surgery and had both his appendix and gallbladder removed. His health deteriorated forcing him to retire from performing live.

He was briefly addicted to pain medication for the pain caused by his pancreatitis.

Arash Pournouri staged two interventions for him by rescheduling many shows in order for Bergling to recover in Stockholm and forbidding his promoters from offering him alcohol and clearing out his minibar.

Arash claimed to even cancel two more world tours against his client’s wishes. However, the problems worsened and Pournouri met with Bergling’s father Klas to share concerns about Bergling’s health.

7. He committed suicide

Tim struggled with mental health since childhood. After becoming famous the stress and pressure from management and fans to continue touring and maintaining his public persona troubled him.

He was already diagnosed with anxiety and turned to alcohol when the stress and pressure were too much to bear.

Avicii succumbed to his mental illness by committing suicide on the 20th of April in Muscat while he was on holiday. The 28-year-old was buried at Hedvig Eleonora Church in June 2018.

A day before his death, a friend had already expressed concern about his mental state to his father Klas.

It was later reported that he had used a glass shard to cut himself and bled to death. It was cited the main reason he committed suicide was the pressure and anxiety from performing according to GQ.

Bergling feared upsetting fans and he was sensitive to the ‘flood of hate mail’ after canceled gigs.

8. Numerous tributes were dedicated to the producer after his death

Avicii Tribute Concert. Photo by Ss279.

After Avicii’s death, numerous tributes were dedicated to him.

He was mentioned in special performances and his music was played by famous musicians like One Republic, The Chainsmokers, Halsey, Kygo, Zedd, Imagine Dragons, Alicia keys, Rita Ora, and Calvin Harris among many others.

A wax statue was created at the Madame Tussauds museum in New York City. A videogame was released called AVICII Invector and a portion of the profits set to be donated to the Tim Bergling Foundation.

In 2021 Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe was renamed the Avicii Arena.

Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures.

On the 8th of September 2021, a Google Doodle celebrated Bergling’s 32nd birthday with an animated video in support of National Suicide Prevention Week.

In February 2022 The renamed Avicii Experience was opened in Space Stockholm, a new digital culture center near Sergels Torg.

9. His family launched the Tim Bergling mental illness and suicide prevention foundation

In honor of Tim’s life and work a mental illness and suicide prevention foundation. Created by his family the Tim Bergling Foundation was launched on the 26th of March 2019.

To honor his memory and continue to act in his spirit the foundation was originally set up to tackle mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

This was to help prevent other families from experiencing similar events Bergling’s family underwent.

The foundation also works to tackle climate change, manage business development, and conserve endangered species.

After Avicii’s death, the music industry claims more awareness of mental health was raised in the industry.

10. In 2017 a documentary was created about him

The film Avicii: true stories was released in 2017 featuring the iconic musician. The documentary was directed by Levan Tsikurishvili who had followed Bergling for over four years to capture footage of his experiences and thinking.

The film was Tim Bergling’s own story made from his extensive personal and family archive and behind-the-scenes footage and told from the inside.

It also depicts the pressure from his management to continue performing live in spite of his objections. There were special appearances by David Guetta, Wyclef Jean, Nile Rodgers, Tiësto, and Chris Martin.