Arts and Entertainment

22 Astonishing Facts About Avicii Every True EDM Fan Needs To Know

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Tim Bergling, fondly known as “Avicii”, broke the hearts of millions of EDM fans last year with the news of his tragic suicide at a tender age of 28. But despite such a brief career graph, the talented musician has had gifted the music world with many top EDM songs– that have even won him Grammy nominations. The post below offers a brief on some of the best astonishing facts about Avicii as a tribute to the promising musician we lost too soon.

Facts about Avicii every EDM fan should know:

  • Avicii bagged the honorable 3rd position on DJ Mag annual list of “Top 100 DJs” for two years straight (2012 & 2013).
  • The name “Avicii” holds a reference to the Buddhist religion. “Avici” refers to a level of hell in Buddhism. He learnt about it from a close friend and immediately wanted to have it for his name But “Avici’ was already taken by a Myspace account and thus he took to an extra “i”. It took him around 18 months to accommodate himself behind decks.
  • The Swedish musician received Grammy nomination twice in his brief career of 12 years. One was in 2012 for “Sunrise” that he composed with the great David Guetta. The other was the very next year, in 2013, for his most famous hit “Levels”. In 2013 Grammy, he was nominated alongside some of the most celebrated biggies of the music industry, including Skrillex, Calvin Harris & Ne-Yo, Al Walser, John Martin & Swedish House Mafia.
  • The gifted Swedish EDM artist is often hailed as one of the most pioneering DJs to get EDM into the prestigious list of “Top 40” radio since early 2010s.
  • “Levels”, the blockbuster single that claimed him fame for the first time, hit the prestigious top 10 charts internationally in multiple countries. These include the UK, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Norway, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Croatia, Bosnia, Belgium and Austria. In Hungary, Sweden and Norway it shot to the #1 position.

  • “Levels” was released in 2011 and was both written & produced by him. The vocal reference of the internationally famous song is inspired by Etta James’ gospel-inspired 1962 release “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”.
  • Avicii’s another hit soundtrack “Fade Into Darkness” had been sampled by popular singer Leona Lewis. Leona used it for her famous single “Collide”. However, the incident sparked a controversy Since Lewis didn’t accredit Avicii in her single. Things took an ugly turn and Avicii even blocked the release of the single. However, both the singers took to an out-of-the-court settlement and Avicii also agreed to work with Lewis later.
  • “Seek Bromance”, one of Avicii’s major hits (2010), bagged a commanding position in top 20 list in multiple countries, including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and of course Sweden.
  • “Last Dance”, Avicii’s unreleased single, was previewed in March 2012 in the popular BBC Radio show of Pete Tong. However, the song was officially released later in August that year only.
  • The grand world premiere for another popular track “Wake Me Up” had a preview on BBC Radio by none other than the great Pete Tong in 2013 June. The track was released in the final quarter of the same month.
  • Avicii was the FIRST ever DJ to command headline on the internationally acclaimed Radio City Music Hall of NYC.
  • He performed with legendary singer Madonna in 2012 Ultra Music Festival on the track of “Girl Gone Wild”. At the same festival, he also performed with another great artist, Lenny Kravitz, on “Superlove”.
  • Avicii’s another popular number, “Silhouettes”, was launched on 27th April, 2012. The single featured soulful vocals by the great Salem Al Fakir. No wonder, this one bagged a respectable position on international top music charts. It came at #6 for UK Dance lists as well as #4 on Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.
  • His sprawling 7,000 sq.ft abode in California’s Hollywood Hills is no less than a dream mansion which is worth a jaw-dropping $15,750,000. This plush residence mesmerizes with mindblowing views of the Los Angeles downtown up to the beautiful Santa Monica.
  • The talented EDM artist has worked with several international artists from all across the world. One of his recent works was with famous Pakistani-American artist Nadia Ali. Avicii composed a remix for her track “Rapture”.
  • Avicii loved his fans and appreciated their love towards him whole-heartedly. When his Facebook follower based hit 2 million, he celebrated it with a brand new track called “Two Million”. The song was even available for free download.
  • He did the same when his Facebook page reached 3 million followers. To celebrate the feat, once again, he came up with a new track aptly titled “Three Million”. Featuring the great Negin, the track was released on 30th January, 2013.

  • Avicii has had made significant contributions in the fight to eradicate global hunger crisis. In that light, he has even founded a charity in 2011 titled “House for Hunger” with his manager Ash Pournouri.
  • He was a huge fan of the American party culture. He had even mentioned about his love for the party trend in the US in his interviews. He also lamented about the fact that such electrifying party culture does not exist in his own country, Sweden.
  • The artist’s maiden show was before a mere 1,000 people. But shortly after, Avicii started commanding 6 figures at various clubs in the US. He had the most fitting comment for his rise- “It was plain perfect timing”, he had stated in one interview. “My rise to fame was just hand-in-hand with EDM.”
  • He was the co-producer of Coldplay’s famous “A Sky Full of Stars” along with none other than Chris Martin.

It’s the misfortune of all the EDM fans and music connoisseurs in general that this young star is not with us anymore But still, given his amazing breadth of work, his musical legacy will always find a special mention in the global EDM music scene.

James Deakin lives in California USA. He is an author of two famous novels, Rage of Angels and When Tomorrow comes. He is also the founder of classof2k9.com