Avicii – The King of EDM

I was reminded today that it was the second anniversary of Avicii's passing. Avicii's legacy is unparalleled, a true performer and artist whose music lives on even if he is no longer with us. Although I don't think I could ever sufficiently put into words what Avicii means to me and what he did for the music community I am going to try.

The year is 2013. Thankfully the world didn't end in 2012 like the Mayans predicted and Jay Sean even told us It ain't the end of the world (if you don't understand this reference, click here). We survived and what came out of this was an excited, young, Swedish DJ coming off his first smashing hit, Levels. Levels was an international success and sent shockwaves to not only the EDM community, but the music industry as a whole. Avicii followed this success with his first album, True. You probably heard of the lead single Wake Me Up. With the help of Aloe Blac and some country twang they had the whole world singing "so wake me up when it's all over, when I'm wiser and I'm older!" by the end of the year. (Hopefully I just took you back to pre pandemic life for a moment). After his first album debuted and another international success, Wake Me Up, Avicii solidified himself in the upper echelon and by 2019, Wake Me Up was named the highest charting dance track of the decade. His music and festival presence surged his popularity. While Michael Jackson holds the title for the King of Pop, DJ Avicii takes the crown as the King of EDM.

I believe that music is one of the biggest parts of my life and the passing of Avicii, two years later, still affects me. It affects me because we all have artists, songs, or albums that we really cherish. We have wedding songs and holiday songs and songs to pre game too and songs we listen to just to sit around and think. We play these songs in the background of our lives surrounded by the people we love. What we don't think about is how these song are frozen forever in time and will bring us back to these moments. These songs then become the soundtrack of our lives (Alexa -- play Good Riddance by Green Day). An artist I had taken with me on countless memories was gone and in that moment I felt a pit in my stomach. Avicii had gotten me through countless car rides, runs, and good times spent with friends. While I know I am still able to play his music at the touch of my fingertips I was never able to see him live. He was an icon and was one of the first artists that made me realize how important music really was to me, and for that I am forever thankful.

Yesterday, on Instagram, Kygo posted a video from his Coachella performance in 2018 when he first found out the horrific news. The video sent chills across my body (Video for reference). Kygo cites him as his biggest musical inspiration and that he started making electronic dance music because of Avicii. To honor Avicii, Kygo ends his set by playing his favorite Avicii song, Without You. While holding back his tears he expresses to the crowd that they should dance and celebrate the musical genius that he was. Now, Kygo is currently my favorite artist and I can't imagine a world without him. I am thankful for Avicii and even more thankful he was the catalyst for so many of our favorite artists today.

When an icon dies it is important that we remember what they did and celebrate their life. Avicii was an incredible artist, performer, producer, and songwriter. In case you are unfamiliar with Avicii's work past Levels, Wake Me Up, and his debut album – True, I want to give a short list (in no official order) of my favorites that he released off of his other albums; Tim, Stories, and The Days / Nights.

1. SOS (feat. Aloe Blacc) – Tim

2. Tough Love – Tim

3. Ain't A Thing (feat. Bonn) – Tim

4. Hold The Line (feat. A R I Z O N A) – Tim

5. Waiting for Love – Stories

6. Sunset Jesus – Stories

7. Pure Grinding – Stories

8. Trouble – Stories

9. Forever Yours – Avicii Tribute (thank you Kygo)

10. The Nights – The Days / Nights

These ten songs above are some of my favorites but I highly suggest you check out all of his music if you have never before. Below is a link to a short playlist that goes beyond the 10 songs above.

I hope listening to these songs either made you smile or bring you back to a memory that Avicii helped foster for you. If it did neither then hopefully you can bring him on your next journey while making new memories. Again I want to thank Avicii for all he did for the music and EDM community. I want to end with a quote from Avicii that I think sums up, even for such a well-established artist, that nobody really knows what they are doing in life.

"When I started out I was Avici with one i. But on MySpace that name was taken."