Featured Image Credit: Mike Pont/WireImage/Getty / Tribeca Film Festival
Topics: Music, Documentaries, Mental Health
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Music, Documentaries, Mental Health
Warning: this article discusses suicide which some readers may find distressing.
The documentary Avicii - I'm Tim allowed fans a more intimate look into the life of the music star.
In 2018, Avicii took his own life and stunned his fans all over the world.
Back in 2011 the DJ, real name Tim Bergling, shot to fame with notable tracks like ‘Levels’, so his death came as quite a massive shock to his fans who expected the artist to continue to make music for many more years.
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Bergling was 28 at the time of his death and had been battling his addiction with pain killers as well as other mental health issues.
At the height of his popularity, Avicii had a more than busy schedule and reportedly over six years committed to doing 800 shows.
At one point he admitted to being overwhelmed and confessed that he was ‘happier’ before becoming famous for his music.
In the documentary titled Avicii: I'm Tim, the two hour-long film sees the late DJ reflect on his life and fame.
"I was a lot happier before I was famous than after I was famous. I started feeling very unhappy," Bergling says, as per Mail Online.
"I was on autopilot mode. I started really f***ing wondering why I was feeling like this. I had been acting away because this is how you're supposed to be acting."
Avicii continued: "I think I didn't give myself enough time to figure out if there was something I wanted to change."
The film made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Part of the documentary's synopsis reads: "In 2011, Avicii took the world by storm with his groundbreaking hits, setting records and captivating audiences with his infectious electronic dance music.
"Tim Bergling’s unlikely story is handled with passion and understanding in this film directed by 2020 Tribeca alum Henrik Burman (Yung Lean: In My Head), diving deep into Avicii's meteoric rise to fame."
The documentary shows 'never-before-seen tour footage and behind-the-scenes glimpses of his creative process', allowing viewers to become 'immersed in the high-energy world of EDM and the massive concerts that became synonymous with Avicii's name'.
Elsewhere in the moving programme, Avicii's friend reflected on the run up to the DJ's death.
Jesse Waits, the managing partner of Las Vegas nightclub XS, recalled: "I realized he was taking painkillers. I grew up with family that did drugs and I saw when people do opiates their eyes change. The pin, the little black parts of their eyes.
"His eyes were wide open like a zombie, he was not there," Waits continued.
"At the dinner, his demeanor changed and his eyes dilated."
Avicii sadly died by suicide on April 20, 2018.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.