Remembering Avicii: a musical evolutionary

The news of the death of Avicii is devastating, there's no other way to put it. He is the first iconic person in the music industry of our generation to pass, a modern day Jimi Hendrix if you will. You may not realize it now, since the songs are so fresh in your head and it wasn't too long ago that Avicii was introduced to the music scene, but at 28 years young his musical influence was only getting started. Believe me when I tell you, these are the songs our generation is going to hear playback and say "ahh the good old days."

Levels reminds me of everytime I walked into a bar or nightclub in college, dancing with my friends and some of the best times of my life. I have a distinct memory of the first time i heard Wake Me Up, when he single-handedly evolved EDM to include other genres, in this folk crossover hit introducing the world to dance-country. Avicii changed the music industry, launching electronic DJ's into the music scene while extending the boundaries of the genre indefinitely by taking EDM outside of clubs and festivals and onto your radio. ​​While the cause is still unknown for his passing, in a recent documentary (that Netflix has since taken down), featuring interviews from fellow music colleagues who compare him to the famous composer Bach in his ability to create music, the artist explained his rise and fall that ultimately led to his early retirement in 2016.

The film introduces you to the soul behind Avicii, Tim Burgling, as he explains how being the center of attention and the lifestyle that came with the production of his music was a struggle for his introvert personality. He continues to explain how keeping up and coping with that lifestyle effected him and his overall health, which consequently led to his decision to stop touring entirely. Unfortunately this isn't the first time we've seen young fame have an effect on artist's physical and mental health. The infamous 27 club is known for listing popular musicians who died at that age, most commonly for drug and alcohol abuse. Now while the artist was open about his anxiety and pancreatic health, that's not to say this was the cause of his death, as no details have emerged to say that. Avicii actually talked about feeling "reborn" in recent interviews and mentioned plans of coming out with new music, which would point to quite the opposite. Regardless of how he passed away, he left us with amazing music to remember him by and our own individual memories we have to go with it. So I'll leave you with this quote...

All photos taken from Google Images, with respect to their original photographers and publishers.

"One day you'll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember."