Electronic dance music now has its Kurt Cobain – Avicii death a coming-of-age in EDM boom
Death of 28-year-old Swedish DJ Avicii – the first electronic superstar to die near his prime – could be a turning point in an industry that was last year worth US$7.4 billion
Rock ‘n’ roll had Buddy Holly, the psychedelic era had Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and grunge had Kurt Cobain. Now electronic dance music has Avicii.
The Black Madonna, DJing at Sónar, on dance music’s global appeal
Avicii, the stage name of Tim Bergling, was not a first-out-the-door pioneer of electronic dance music, or EDM. But he both showed the mainstream possibilities of EDM and, by the end of his short life, had already become a sage elder who cautioned about the artistic and commercial overreach of the music.
The EDM scene has exploded since the turn of the century and last year was worth US$7.4 billion, according to a study by the industry’s International Music Summit in Ibiza. Avicii came to define the new age of radio-friendly EDM in 2011 with Levels, which entered the top 10 across Europe with its sample of soul great Etta James in between synthesiser riffs soaring with stadium-packing power.
Non-clubbers also heard EDM’s energy when Avicii teamed up with rockers Coldplay on Sky Full of Stars, with Chris Martin’s voice giving way to fast-building, synthesised ecstasy.