First time I ever heard Avicii was in 2011, when I was listening to Levels and a little bit of Fade into Darkness.
But the moment I became a fan was when I heard “Wake me up“. The song has special meaning for me because it’s the song I connect the most to the US. Both because of the sound and mostly because I was listening to it on my daily commute between San Jose and San Francisco when I was looking for investment for MavenHut.
That’s when I started to listen to everything he was launching. Hey Brother, Addicted to You, The Nights, they were all among my most played songs. I have Heaven, the latest song released, in heavy rotation right now.
I also watched the documentary he released shortly before his death and I liked the guy even more. You could see how dedicated he was to his music, fighting through debilitating pain every day. The film is also a premonition, since at some point in the show this happens:
“He’s a shell of what he used to be,” says a friend in the film, while another describes him as “a ticking timebomb”.
It all builds to the point where, late in the documentary, Avicii flatly says of touring: “It will kill me.”
The Guardian
If you didn’t see Avicii: True Stories, it might be available on Netflix in your country.
On December 5th there was a live tribute for him in Stockholm, in order to raise awareness for mental health. It’s his music and the people he played it with. You can watch/listen to it on YouTube:
