Avicii: Why we should all be talking about his death

Love him, hate him...just don't ignore him. Especially now.

Avicii, real name Timothy Bergling, was around my age at the time of his death, give or take about six months. Poor bastard never made it to age 30.

Some loved him. I know a lot of people, myself included, jammed the fuck out to "Levels" in college. We played the music video ad nauseum for each other in dorm rooms bathed in the violet glow of blacklights while sipping Miller High Life and shrieking the lyrics in gleeful falsettos, harmonizing with joy in intoxicated dissonance.

Some hated him. I suppose there are a lot of people who disliked his music, citing "Levels" as the "only good song." I myself never followed his music after that one hit. I do know, however, that up to his death, he was playing sold-out shows all over the world. He'd been doing that since he was a teenager. Then, he started canceling shows to go into emergency surgery.

This article by "Psychology Today" discussed his cause of death: drug-related complications.

I'm writing this article because I didn't know about any of this until I read it two days ago. I get the feeling a lot of people didn't. 

Avicii struggled from poor self-image his whole life, channeling it into his music. It made him rich. It gave him millions of fans across the world - yet it wasn't enough to make him comfortable in his own skin, so he abused way too many drugs and drank way too much booze.

Remember: this is what happens when nobody helps someone who's in trouble.