April 20th, 2021 marked the third anniversary of the tragic death of Avicii (Tim Bergling). On this day, the well-renowned singer Aloe Blacc celebrated the producer’s life. For about one hour, Blacc reflected on memories, unreleased collaborations, and the impact of the Swedish DJ on the music industry. The singer was also joined momentarily by some other collaborators of Avicii, such as Dan Tyminski, ‘Hey Brother‘s vocalist, and Sandro Cavazza, the vocalist on ‘Without You‘.
Among other stories, Blacc talked about the first encounter he had with Avicii through Blacc’s label, Interscope Records. Apparently, Neil Jacobson – one of Interscope’s executives – was the only one who wanted to sign Tim. Despite the refusal of the company, he decided to connect the young producer with Blacc so the two could collaborate. Upon this meeting, Bergling shared a song with Blacc called ‘Black and Blue‘. The song was written by Mac Davis, who’d also contributed to ‘Wake Me Up‘. ‘Black and Blue’ never saw the light of day, but Blacc did perform it live during Avicii’s iconic 2013 performance at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival. As some of you may remember, the audience famously booed the debut of ‘Wake Me Up’.
Obviously, now we know this performance changed the future of live music in the EDM community. In fact, many artists include live instruments and vocalists in their performances nowadays.
Moreover, Blacc talked about some of the unreleased songs he had with Avicii and their potential release. “I don’t have the power to release it. It’s really in the power of the people who control [Tim’s] estate“. The singer then continued to relate stories he was part of. The live event finally concluded with stories by Dan Tyminski & Sandro Cavazza.