With the sudden passing of EDM legend Avicii late last week, fans and DJs alike tuned into SiriusXM‘s BPM channel as they broadcasted a tribute to celebrate his life. BPM hosts, Rida Naser, Mallory Lynne, Ben Harvey, Liquid Todd and Danny Valentino went live on 2PM Friday afternoon and did not get off-air until 11PM. During the 9-hour tribute, many DJs, fans, and various other individuals called in to share their personal memories of Avicii. Whether it was the last time they had dinner or just a special moment they had shared, all the DJs that called in that day were broken.
Tiesto was one of the first to share his thoughts. He stated that Avicii actually had a serious case of stage fright. He added that “it was very tough for him to be on stage and perform, so he loved to be in the studio. But DJing, he liked it but it was very hard for him to actually DJ because he felt so stressed and so looked upon, I think. It was definitely not his favorite thing to do. He was definitely a guy who loved to sit behind a piano and be in the studio for days and make the music.”
Avicii actually even had plans of attending Ultra Miami this year to watch Swedish House Mafia‘s performance. Although he ended up not being able to make it to the reunion, Tiesto mentioned that Avicii was inspired by their performance to potentially make his own comeback to touring. Now that a return is no longer possible, all we can anticipate for is the finished music that has yet to be released.
Steve Aoki followed and called in to share that Avicii not only inspired him, but was also one of the people who made the term “EDM” even possible. “When I really go back to what Avicii did to electronic music, I literally can hear him in all these songs even if they aren’t his songs,” Aoki told BPM. “He is one of the most important figures for EDM, that term, to even exist. That term is maybe 10 years old, and Avicii broke that term into existence. You know there’s a few artists who can do that, and he is one of them.”
Laidback Luke, who was one of Avicii’s first mentors in the dance music scene, had a few words to share as well. “I could have given him so much advice to turn this whole thing around,” Laidback Luke said. “What you need to realize is that performing was his biggest anxiety, and so each and every single night he needed to face his biggest anxiety. That will get you at a certain point.”
Avicii definitely paved the way for many of today’s biggest EDM stars to be who they are now. This includes Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers who called in to share how they were inspired by Avicii to become DJs from the vey beginning.
“He was the actual reason both of us fell in love with dance music and started,” said Pall. “He was the first EDM act that we saw and felt that a career in this was possible and worth the struggle and working our asses off and dedicating everything to making it happen. Just watching the music that he was making and the way it made us feel, the way it made the people around us feel. And you know he is literally the reason why we do this, and it’s a very devastating day for us and many like us.”
Kaskade later dialed in and told BPM that he remembers Avicii as a very shy individual. “He was always pretty shy and pretty reserved,” he said. “I think a lot of people know and understand that and that lead to some of the problems that he had. I think he was trying to cope with the situation he was in. He found fame relatively quick and at such a young age. He was always such a nice guy.”t
These are just a few of the many DJs that called in to share their thoughts on the passing of Avicii. Others who called in included Nicky Romero, Armin van Buuren, Like Mike, and Alan Walker.
SiriusXM’s Avicii tribute ran on BPM Channel 51 all weekend long and was filled with many incredible stories from DJs and fans alike. Friday was a whirlwind of sadness in the EDM world with the tragic passing of such an icon – one that can never be replaced.