Subscription Notification
We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Please update your billing details here
Please update your billing information
The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your subscription.
Your subscription will end shortly
Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your access to the most informative and considered journalism in the UK.

Accessibility Links

Skip to content
Subscribe
INTERVIEW

Avicii: the tragic death of the superstar DJ who seemed to have it all

To his fans he was Avicii. To his parents he was shy Tim. In 2018 he took his own life. His father, Klas Bergling, opens up about the career that overwhelmed his son

In his superstar DJ guise, Avicii, Tim Bergling plays at the outdoor Ibiza club Ushuaïa in 2014
In his superstar DJ guise, Avicii, Tim Bergling plays at the outdoor Ibiza club Ushuaïa in 2014
EYEVINE
Emily Dixon
The Sunday Times

An Avicii concert was a spectacle. In August 2016 a pulsing crowd at the Ibiza superclub Ushuaïa chanted the DJ’s name, erupting in delight with every beat drop. Roaring jets of flame illuminated the stage, while flares snaked through the sky overhead.

At the centre of it all stood Avicii, the stage name of a young Swedish electronic dance music (EDM) DJ and producer named Tim Bergling. One hand on the decks, the other raised above his head, he mouthed the lyrics as he played, seeming every bit as euphoric as the thousands of fans gazing up at him. But the show was a farewell: five months earlier he’d announced his decision to stop playing live, depleted by a gruelling touring schedule that left him