Although celebrities are known to visit Oman to savour its nature endowed vistas and find succour in the calming effect of its deserts, mountains and the seas, its promise of secrecy, the sense of anonymity it discreetly endows, is what has endeared it to many. Like Avicii. His visit to Muscat would have never made it to the headlines…
If only!
Avicii spent his last days in harmony with nature, in the restrained charm the city boasts. While speculations and rumours spread through the city, following the tragic news, a statement from his representative announced thus: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii. He was found dead in Muscat, Oman this Friday afternoon. The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given.”
Artist, DJ, and producer Tim Bergling, better known by his stage name Avicii, died on April 20. He was 28. Death came much too soon for Avicii, who only two years ago had announced his retirement from live tours. He was at the peak of his success when he took the big step, citing health reasons that were triggered by excessive drinking.
He’d announced: “We all reach a point in our lives and careers where we understand what matters the most to us. For me it’s creating music. That is what I live for, what I feel I was born to do. Last year I quit performing live, and many of you thought that was it. But the end of ‘live’ never meant the end of Avicii or my music. Instead, I went back to the place where it all made sense – the studio. The next stage will be all about my love of making music to you guys. It is the beginning of something new.”
That something new didn’t last long.
He was one of the most popular and successful electronic dance-music artists of all time. He’d scored a No. 4 hit on the Billboard 200 in 2013 with ‘Wake Me Up’ and had regularly appeared in the Top 5 of Forbes’ ‘Highest-Paid DJs’ lists. He was only 16 years old when he began his music career by posting his remixes in online forums of electronic music. That led him to sign his first record label deal and he soon savoured success with is breakthrough single ‘Levels’, in 2011. It was, however, his debut studio album, ‘True’, which featured several music genres that pushed his popularity. The album peaked within the top ten in more than fifteen countries and topped the Australian, Swedish, Danish and US dance charts. It was supported by the lead single ‘Wake Me Up’, which topped most music markets in Europe and reached number four in the US. In 2015 he released his second studio album, ‘Stories’, and in 2017 he released an EP titled ‘Avīci (01)’.
He’d said, “I am a DJ. I get the party started.” Somewhere in heaven, he has got a raving party started, for sure.