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On April 20, 2018, Swedish DJ Avicii was found dead in Muscat, Oman. He was 28-years-old. No immediate cause of death was given.
Avicii — whose given name was Tim Bergling — was considered a pioneer of EDM. He is one of the DJs credited with bringing the genre of music into the mainstream, as well as into the Top 40. Tracks like "Wake Me Up," "Levels," and "Hey Brother" proved that he had a knack for creating ear worms. His A-list collaborations, with everyone from David Guetta to Chris Martin of Coldplay, proved he was a rising star respected by the best in music — and ready to carve out his own space within the music industry.
Yet Avicii's personal life, according to a statement from his family, was not always easy. Described as a "fragile soul" by his family, Avicii "struggled with thoughts about meaning, life, happiness." In a documentary titled Avicii: True Stories, the musician seemingly predicted that he was going to die if he did not stop touring. (The DJ had dealt with health problems for some time, and retired from performing live in 2016 to manage them.)
"Everyone knows that I've had anxiety and that I have tried. I did not expect that people would try to pressure me into doing more gigs," Avicii said in the documentary. "I have said, like, I'm going to die. I have said it so many times. And so I don't want to hear that I should entertain the thought of doing another gig."
Though his death is certainly on fans' minds, his too-short career was prolific for such a young artist. Click through to read about how Avicii went from virtual unknown to a superstar DJ.
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