1989–2010: Early life and career Tim Bergling was born in
Stockholm, Sweden, on 8 September, 1989; he was the son of Klas Bergling, who ran an office supply business, and actress
Anki Lidén. He had three siblings: David Bergling, Linda Sterner, and actor
Anton Körberg. At age eight, Tim started
mixing in his bedroom. Inspired by his brother, who was also a DJ, Bergling began making music at the age of 16; he taught himself to use a
pirated copy of
FL Studio. He was a member of the online forum
Laidback Luke, where he refined his craft and, at times, demonstrated his distinctive
deep house style. During this period, he remixed tracks by
Little Boots,
Robyn, and
Dizzee Rascal. Bergling adopted his moniker
Avicii, a respelling of
Avīci, which means "the lowest level of
Buddhist hell", according to Bergling. He chose the moniker because his real name was already in use when he created his page on the social networking website
Myspace. In 2010, Avicii released the song "
Seek Bromance", which reached the top 20 in several countries, including Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. In October 2010, he signed with the European A&R team at
EMI Music Publishing.
2011–2013: "Levels" in September 2011 In 2011,
Leona Lewis sampled Avicii's track "
Fade into Darkness" on her single "
Collide". The samples were not credited and led to controversy, and Avicii attempted to block the single's release. The matter was resolved out of court, and "Collide" was made a joint release between Lewis and Avicii. In October 2011, Avicii released the song "
Levels", which launched him into the mainstream. Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom, while topping the charts in Hungary, Norway, and Sweden. In 2012, Avicii's collaboration track "
Sunshine" with
David Guetta was nominated for a
Grammy Award in the category
Best Dance Recording. On 23 March 2012,
Pete Tong reviewed Avicii's unsigned single "Last Dance" on Tong's show on
BBC Radio 1. At
Ultra Music Festival 2012 in Miami, he premiered the tracks "
Girl Gone Wild" (Avicii's UMF Remix) with
Madonna and "
Superlove" with
Lenny Kravitz. After reaching two million followers on the social media platform
Facebook, Avicii released a new song titled "Two Million". On 27 April 2012, he released "
Silhouettes", which features vocals from
Salem Al Fakir; the song peaked at number five on the
UK Dance Singles charts and number four on the
Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs and the Belgian
Ultratop chart. Avicii was a featured performer on 4 August 2012 at the
Lollapalooza festival in Chicago's
Grant Park. On 12 August 2012, he released "Dancing in My Head" (Avicii's 'Been Cursed' Mix), featuring vocals from
Eric Turner, on
Beatport. On 26 September 2012, Avicii became the first DJ to headline
Radio City Music Hall in New York City. He performed two sold-out shows supported by Matt Goldman and
Cazzette on 26 and 27 September. At his Radio City Music Hall shows, he played a preview of his new track with
Mike Posner titled "Stay with You". On the same day, Avicii released the song "
I Could Be the One", a collaboration with
Nicky Romero that features Swedish singer
Noonie Bao on vocals. The single entered at number one on the
UK Singles Chart on 17 February 2013―for the week ending 23 February 2013―becoming both Avicii's and Nicky Romero's first chart-topping single in Britain. On 9 January 2013, Avicii launched the
Avicii X You project, a partnership with
Ericsson to create the world's first "
crowdsourced" hit song. Avicii acted as executive producer and created the song, which is officially titled "
X You" and was released on 26 February 2013. On 30 January 2013, Avicii released "Three Million" featuring Negin to celebrate his Facebook page reaching three million fans. For "Levels", Avicii was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the
55th Annual Grammy Awards on 10 February 2013. From late February to early March 2013, Avicii toured Australia as a headline act in the
Future Music Festival alongside
The Prodigy and
The Stone Roses. In late February 2013, he embarked on his first South American tour, with concerts in Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile.
2013–2014: True '' In March 2013, during his Main Stage set at the
Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Avicii announced and premiered new experimental tracks from his new album,
True, which was released in September that year. Avicii brought out a stomping band to play through the new bluegrass-tinged song "
Wake Me Up". Many of the new songs received mixed critical reviews after the concert. That same month, Avicii won Best Artist (Solo) at the 28th Annual
International Dance Music Awards. The
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and
Sveriges Television (SVT) announced on 15 April that Avicii and ex-
ABBA members
Björn Ulvaeus and
Benny Andersson had composed the anthem for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The song was performed for the first time in the final on 18 May. On 14 June 2013, Pete Tong reviewed the world premiere of Avicii's new single "Wake Me Up" on BBC Radio 1; The song features vocals from
Aloe Blacc and was released on 25 June 2013. It was the first single from Avicii's album,
True, which was released on 16 September 2013. "Wake Me Up" peaked at number one on the Spotify Global Chart, and Avicii was the second-most-streamed artist worldwide. "Wake Me Up" spent 14 weeks as the number one hit on the
Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, a record at that time. "Wake Me Up" peaked at number one in over 20 countries, including Australia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In August 2013, Avicii performed his new song "
Lay Me Down" with
Nile Rodgers and
Adam Lambert at Rodgers's fundraiser, "All For The East End". The song, which was released the following month, features Lambert on vocals and Rodgers on guitar. On 19 October, the
DJ Mag 2013 "Top 100 DJs" placed Avicii at number three on the list. That same month, Avicii released his single "
Hey Brother", with vocals by
Dan Tyminski. On 10 November, Avicii won his first award—"
Best Electronic"—at the
MTV Europe Music Awards. On 24 November 2013, he won the
American Music Award for Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist. In December 2013, Avicii released the album's fourth single, "
Addicted to You", which reached number five in Australia, with vocals from
Audra Mae, who also sings on the tracks "Shame on Me" and "Long Road to Hell". On 29 December 2013, Avicii debuted his new track "Dreaming of Me", featuring vocals from Audra Mae, via episode 19 of his podcast
LE7ELS. On 28 February 2014, his song "Wake Me Up" was Spotify's most-streamed song and became the first song to ever exceed 200 million listeners on the platform. "Wake Me Up" remained the most-streamed song on the platform for 506 days until it was overtaken by English singer-songwriter
Ed Sheeran's song "
Thinking Out Loud" in May 2015. On March 8, 2014, Avicii's
Instagram account confirmed his collaboration with Madonna, producing the tracks "
Wash All Over Me" and "
Rebel Heart" for her 2015 album,
Rebel Heart. On 21 March 2014, Avicii released a remixed edition of his album
True titled
True: Avicii By Avicii, containing his remixes of all the tracks except "Heart Upon My Sleeve". The album's promotion was supposed to begin at the 2014
Ultra Music Festival, but Avicii announced he had been hospitalised on 28 March and was unable to play his closing set at the festival. On April 30, 2014, in collaboration with
Carlos Santana,
Wyclef Jean, and
Alexandre Pires, Avicii released the official
2014 FIFA World Cup anthem, "
Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way)", which was performed at the closing ceremony on 13 July 2014. It was also included on the album
2014 FIFA World Cup, which was released in the US on May 12. Avicii collaborated with
Chris Martin from
Coldplay, co-writing and co-producing the track "
A Sky Full of Stars" from the band's sixth studio album,
Ghost Stories, which was released on 19 May 2014. Avicii also played and recorded the piano parts on the track. "A Sky Full of Stars" was released on 3 May as the second single from
Ghost Stories. "
Lovers on the Sun", a track Avicii co-produced with
David Guetta, was released on 30 June 2014.
2014–2015: Stories In July 2014, Avicii told
Rolling Stone he had worked on 70 songs for his next album,
Stories, which would include collaborations with
Jon Bon Jovi,
Serj Tankian of
System of a Down,
Chris Martin,
Wyclef Jean, and
Matisyahu. Avicii described the album as "a lot more song-oriented". "Lose Myself", a collaboration between Avicii and Chinese singer
Wang Leehom, was released on 1 September 2014. The song was created as the theme song for the
Storm Electronic Music Festival, which will be held in
Shanghai from October 5th to 6th. On 8 September 2014, Avicii's 25th birthday, he decided to cancel his remaining performances that year due to health concerns. "The Days" is a collaboration between Avicii and
Robbie Williams and was released as the first single from Avicii's album
Stories on 3 October 2014 and was included as a bonus track on the album's Japanese versions. On 16 September 2014,
EA Sports announced Avicii was debuting a new track called "
The Nights" exclusively on the video game
FIFA 15. On 17 November 2014, Wyclef Jean released a track titled "
Divine Sorrow" featuring Avicii that was part of
Product Red's campaign "Share the Sound of an AIDS-Free Generation". in August 2014 On 2 March 2015, Avicii performed his upcoming single "
Heaven" with Chris Martin on vocals live at Australia's
Future Music Festival. On 27 March, during his live performance at
Ultra Music Festival in
Miami, Avicii premiered new tracks from
Stories, and in April 2015, he released three full sets on the Internet, which included "Heaven", "
Waiting for Love", and some of his IDs: "For a Better Day", "City Lights", "Can't Catch Me", "True Believer", "What Would I Change It To", "Can't Love You Again" (previously leaked on the Internet under the name "Don't Call"), and "Attack". On 6 May 2015, Avicii released his rework of
Nina Simone's version of "
Feeling Good", which was composed in 1964 by the English songwriters
Anthony Newley and
Leslie Bricusse. On 8 May 2015, Avicii previewed his song "I'll Be Gone" via episode 422 of ''
Tiësto's Club Life'' podcast. It was leaked on the Internet between 2013 and 2014 via the name "Stars" and is yet to be released. It has a similar drop to one of Avicii's IDs, "Black and Blue". On 22 May 2015, Avicii premiered another single from
Stories, "Waiting for Love", which was co-produced by fellow DJ and producer
Martin Garrix and features vocals from Simon Aldred of
Cherry Ghost. Avicii was ranked sixth on
Forbes list of "The World's Highest-Paid DJs 2015", published in August, with earnings of . That same month, the Swedish newspaper
Göteborgs-Posten confirmed through an interview with Avicii that his second album,
Stories, would be released in late 2015. In July 2015, Avicii premiered the album's track "Broken Arrows" featuring
Zac Brown of the
Zac Brown Band, on Episode 37 of the podcast
LE7ELS. On 18 July 2015, Avicii announced he had finished production on
Stories after two years of work. On 4 August 2015, it was announced the final singles before the release of
Stories would be "
For a Better Day" featuring American singer
Alex Ebert, and "Pure Grinding" featuring vocals from Kristoffer Fogelmark and
Earl St. Clair. "For a Better Day" and "Pure Grinding" were released on August 28. In September, Avicii's representatives announced to
Billboard he would postpone all remaining tour dates for 2015, citing a hectic touring schedule and the pressures of releasing
Stories. That same month, Avicii announced the release of "Stories – Megamix" on the music-streaming platform
Spotify.
Stories was released on October 2, 2015; it reached number one on the Swedish
Sverigetopplistan chart, the Norwegian
VG-lista chart, and the US
Billboard Top Dance Albums chart. In November, Avicii stated on
Quora it was "highly likely" a new album would be released in 2016. The song became the theme for Coca-Cola's
UEFA Euro 2016 campaign. On 25 January, Avicii again worked with Coldplay to co-produce the band's single "
Hymn for the Weekend", which was released as the second single from their album
A Head Full of Dreams. In 2016, according to a report by
Inc. magazine, Avicii Music AB was the sixth-fastest-growing company in Europe, with a revenue of €7.7 million in 2014. On 19 March 2016, at Ultra Music Festival, Avicii debuted new demos such as "We Burn" featuring
Sandro Cavazza, "Faster Than Light", "Without You", "Our Love" and "Unbreakable". Ten days later, Avicii posted a message on his website announcing he would be retiring from touring later that year, citing health concerns. On April 7, 2016, in an interview with
The Hollywood Reporter, Avicii announced he was working on his third studio album. That same month, he performed at
Dubai World Trade Centre in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as part of his final shows; he performed an unreleased track, "All I Need", featuring Australian singer-songwriter
Sia. On 3 June 2016, Avicii released a collaboration with
Otto Knows titled "Back Where I Belong". On 15 July 2016, Avicii released a remix of his song, "Feeling Good", titled "Feeling Good (Avicii by Avicii)". On 28 August 2016, Avicii performed his final show at
Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel. At the end of 2016, a representative of Avicii Music AB announced Avicii was no longer working with his long-time manager
Arash Pournouri, At Night Management, and Pournouri's record label PRMD. The representative also announced Avicii had signed with
Universal Music Sweden and was expected to release his third studio album in 2017.
2017–2018: Avīci (01) and Avicii: True Stories In June 2017, British singer
Rita Ora debuted a semi-acoustic version of "
Lonely Together" at a private event at
Annabel's in London. On August 10, 2017, Avicii released the six-track EP
Avīci (01), which reached number one on the Swedish
Sverigetopplistan chart. The album's single, "
Without You" featuring
Sandro Cavazza, was released on the same day as the album's release, and "Lonely Together" featuring Rita Ora, was released the following day, reaching number one and number three, respectively, on the Swedish chart. Avicii uploaded teasers of each track from the EP upon release. In an interview with Pete Tong on
BBC Radio 1, Avicii stated the EP is one of three parts of his third studio album. On 11 September 2017, Avicii announced a documentary directed by his long-time collaborator Levan Tsikurishvili titled
Avicii: True Stories. The documentary chronicles Avicii's retirement from touring and features interviews from his colleagues David Guetta,
Tiësto, Wyclef Jean, Nile Rodgers, and Chris Martin. On January 4, American singer
Anderson East released the single "Girlfriend", which was co-written with Avicii for Anderson's album
Encore. On 10 February 2018, Avicii released "Ghost", a collaboration with Swedish singer-songwriter
Daniel Adams-Ray, who is credited as Human. The song, which was leaked on the Internet in 2014/2015 under the title "(I'm Still) In Love with Your Ghost", marks the second collaboration between the two, following "Somewhere in Stockholm" from Avicii's album
Stories. Following Avicii's death that April, news outlets reported that at the time of his death, he had over 200 unreleased songs, some finished and others still in development; it was suggested his unreleased material comprised some of his best work. In August 2018, producer
Carl Falk, who co-produced some songs on
Stories in 2015 and
Avīci (01) in 2017, stated he was finalising the Chris Martin collaboration "Heaven" (originally written during the
Stories sessions) and that it might be released in a few months, along with Avicii's third album.
Posthumous releases and tribute activities In April 2019, it was announced the album
Tim, on which Avicii was working before his death, would be released on 6 June 2019, with the lead single, "
SOS" released on 10 April. All proceeds from the sale of the album went towards the
Tim Bergling Foundation. Later that month, it was announced an
official biography of Avicii, written by Swedish author Måns Mosesson, would be released in 2020, with the proceeds also going to the foundation. The second single from the album, titled "
Tough Love", was released on 9 May 2019, followed by a music video on 14 May. The third single, "
Heaven", was released on 6 June; it was co-written by Chris Martin. The music video, which includes clips of Avicii holidaying in
Madagascar after his retirement from touring in 2016, was released on 24 June 2019. On 28 June,
Billboard cited "Heaven" as one of the best dance songs of the first half of 2019. In October, the release of the video game
Avicii Invector was announced. Gameplay would include single and multiplayer versions, and players would recreate 25 of Avicii's songs. A portion of the profits was to be donated to the
Tim Bergling Foundation. Rebecca May of
The Guardian rated the game 4/5 stars, describing it as "an immersive musical tribute". In November, Avicii won
Best Swedish Act at the
2019 MTV Europe Music Awards, his third win after 2013 and 2018. A tribute concert version of "Fades Away" featuring singer
MishCatt was released on December 5. On 24 January 2020, the single "
Forever Yours", a collaboration with
Kygo and
Sandro Cavazza, was released. The song was first performed at
Ultra Music Festival in 2016. On 15 February,
Tiësto premiered three unreleased Avicii singles on his radio show ''
Tiësto's Club Life'': a fifth collaboration with
Aloe Blacc called "I Wanna Be Free", a fifth collaboration with Sandro Cavazza called "We Burn", and a fifth collaboration with Wyclef Jean called "Now That We Found Love". In April, Avicii's album
Tim won Best Album at the 2020
International Dance Music Awards. In June, "Wake Me Up" was certified
diamond by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On October 30, 2020, the American singer
Cam released the track "The Otherside", which Avicii co-wrote. The version included on
the eponymous album does not feature the DJ's original instrumentals, which were removed to align with the album's country style, but it retains the lyrics written by Avicii. A biography titled
Tim – The Official Biography of Avicii was released in the UK and North America on 16 November 2021. Kitty Empire of
The Guardian described it as "An honest study of the shy young man turned superstar DJ". A second tribute concert was held at the
Avicii Arena on 1 December, and a third tribute concert, titled "Together for a Better Day", was held at the same venue on 6 December 2023. On 14 February 2024,
Zac Brown Band's lead singer,
Zac Brown, announced Avicii's remix of their song "
Beautiful Drug" would be released on 16 February. On 19 April, it was announced the documentary ''
Avicii – I'm Tim'' would premiere at the
Tribeca Festival on 9 June 2024. Directed by Henrik Burman, the film features interviews with David Guetta, Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers, and others. On 23 May, a
SiriusXM radio channel titled "Avicii Radio: Music for a Better Day" was launched. On June 14th, Swedish author Mörs Mosesson published a photo book depicting Avicii's childhood and life,
The Life and Music of Tim Bergling, proceeds from which were donated to the Tim Bergling Foundation. At the end of 2024,
Netflix released Avicii's final live performance, titled
Avicii: My Last Show, which took place on 28 August 2016 at
Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel. The performance was simultaneously released with the documentary ''Avicii – I'm Tim''. On February 14, 2025, the single "
Forever Yours (Tim's 2016 Ibiza Version)" was released. The song was finished in 2016, but since the documentary's release, pressure to release the song has increased. A "Creative Journey" video was posted on the same day as the song's release; it features rare studio footage of Avicii listening to the demo with friends and performing it at his last concert. A
greatest hits album,
Avicii Forever, was released on 16 May 2025. On November 6, the first episode of the documentary "Stories on Stories" was released on the video-sharing website
YouTube. The three-part series includes previously unseen archival footage of studio sessions from 2014 and 2015 that produced some songs on
Stories (2015). Episode Two was released on 4 December. ==Work==