Rock ‘n’ roll had Buddy Holly, the psychedelic era had Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and grunge had Kurt Cobain. Now electronic dance music has Avicii.
The Swedish DJ’s death Friday at age 28 marks a symbolic coming-of-age for a genre that remains resolutely youthful, with the first electronic superstar to die near his prime.
Avicii, the stage name of Tim Bergling, was not a first-out-the-door pioneer of electronic dance music—or EDM —a scene that has exploded since the turn of the century and last year was worth USD 7.4 billion, according to a study by the industry’s International Music Summit in Ibiza.
But Avicii both showed the mainstream possibilities of EDM—and, by the end of his short life, had already become a sage elder who cautioned about the artistic and commercial overreach of the music.
Avicii came to define the new age of radio-friendly EDM in 2011 with “Levels,” which entered the top 10 across Europe with its sample of soul great Etta James in between synthesizer riffs that soar with stadium-packing power.
Non-clubbers also heard EDM’s energy when Avicii teamed up with rockers Coldplay on “Sky Full of Stars,” with Chris Martin’s voice giving way to fast-building, synthesized ecstasy.
But perhaps his most influential moment came in 2013 when he headlined the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. A year after he invited Madonna as a surprise stage guest, Avicii befuddled a crowd of ravers by bringing out a bluegrass band with a banjo for his soon-to-be-hit “Wake Me Up,” which may now be remembered for more than the banjo twist. The track, featuring singer Aloe Blacc, reflects on aging with the line, “I wish I could stay forever this young.”
Like other musicians who died with so many years ahead of them, Avicii looks destined to be remembered with an aura of tragedy. He retired from touring in 2016 as he suffered health problems including acute pancreatitis, triggered in part by excessive drinking.
Avicii, who acknowledged his problems in the sole lyric to the song “Alcoholic,” died while on vacation in Oman. The cause remained unclear, although police sources in the Gulf sultanate did not suspect foul play.
The electronic music world has been struck by few other deaths. House music forerunner Frankie Knuckles and New York party organizer David Mancuso have both died in recent years, but both were considerably older.
Avicii’s death puts him nearly in the so-called 27 club—celebrated musicians who have died at age 27 including Cobain, Hendrix, Joplin,Jim Morrison, soul singer Amy Winehouse and Rolling Stone’s Brian Jones.
Avicii—a stage name derived from the Sanskrit for the deepest stage of hell, the inverse of Cobain’s Nirvana—had spoken of being an introvert who was never comfortable with the hard-partying lifestyle of a DJ, for whom alcohol was always available and usually free.
