Avicii is living the dream. And by dream we mean retiring at the ripe old age of 26.
The Swedish DJ, whose real name is Tim Bergling, announced via his official website that once he's completed his current tour, he'll be retiring from touring and live performances altogether.
"I have strong interests in different areas but there’s so little time to explore them," he wrote in a lengthy letter addressed to the world. "Two weeks ago, I took the time to drive across the U.S. with my friends and team, to just look and see and think about things in a new way. It really helped me realize that I needed to make the change that I’d been struggling with for a while."
The performer, who started making music at 18, wrote that although he knows he's been "blessed" to be able to travel the world and perform, he feels he has "too little left for the life of a real person behind the artist."
"I will however never let go of music -- I will continue to speak to my fans through it, but I’ve decided this 2016 run will be my last tour and last shows. Let’s make them go out with a bang," he wrote. "One part of me can never say never, I could be back ... but I won’t be right back."
It's not the first time the musician has taken a step back. Avicii previously told GQ that his busy touring schedule, non-stop partying and binge drinking contributed to an 11-day hospitalization for acute pancreatitis in 2012. According to Billboard, he was hospitalized again in Australia in 2013, where he ignored doctors who urged him to have his gallbladder removed. In March 2014, the DJ cited stomach pains as the reason he had to pull out of of Miami's Ultra Music Festival. He was later hospitalized and doctors removed his ruptured appendix as well as his gallbladder.
The DJ, who is best known for the tracks "Levels" and "Wake Me Up," made Forbes' list of the highest paid DJs the last four years in a row, raking in an estimated $75 million in that time period.
Read Avicii's entire letter below:
Hello world,
Thank you for letting me fulfill so many of my dreams. I will be forever grateful to have experienced and accomplished all that I have with the help of the team around me and my beloved fans. Thank you to all my peers in the business for building a new movement that took the world by storm and I was lucky enough to be in the middle of it. Thank you to all my partners through the years who believed in what I have created and wanted to amplify my work to a truly global presence.
First and foremost thank you to my brother and partner Ash, its truly been a crazy run and its only been possible through our collaborative efforts, yin and yang, brother to brother manager to artist. I will always appreciate this road with you no matter where it leads from here. I could write so much more but our journey is far from finished.
Thank you to everyone at At Night, a special thanks to everyone who has been a part of the team since day one and without your hard dedicated work I wouldn't be here. Thank you especially to Carl Vernersson, Filip Holm, Marcus Lindgren, Victor Lee and Panos Ayassotelis.
Thank you to the teams of Johnny Tenander, Per Sundin, Max Hole, Neil Jacobson and Joakim Johansson in no particular order. Your loyalty and hard work on the label and publishing fronts have allowed me to always feel like we have had someone backing us in your court, and that has given me the musical confidence I've needed. Thank you.
Thank you Robb Harker, Malik Adunni, David Brady, Andrew Mckeough, Rob Woo and Felix Alfonzo - you helped introduce touring to me in as much of a functional way possible for a kid my age and my road could have been alot darker if it wasnt for your personal support at such a crucial point. Thank you Semi Baddredine for all your personal support, talks and help in me growing up. I have a weird feeling i could be dead If it wasn't for you and I will always love and support you.
Thank you to Ciara Davy, Michael "Curly" Jobson and the MJM team, Harry Bird and Charlie Alves for making my touring years amazing during the best of times and durable during the worst. I hope we will find a way to keep on working together.
Thank you to all artists, musicians and songwriters who have helped me develop musically and personally, the list is long but there is no one I've worked with where I haven't learnt something.
A huge thank you to all my friends in the industry. Thank you Jesse Waits at XS for having been such a huge friend to me and a rock in stormy waters. Also huge thanks in no particular order to Jonathan Schwartz, Austin Leeds, Pete Moutso, Dave Grutman, Noah Tepperberg, Jason Strauss, Sean Christie, Carlos Correal, Rob Fernandez, Eddie Dean, Adam Russakoff, Mike Satsky, Trecia Laird, Lisa Pillette, Marcella Barrett, Zoe Stainsby, Joe Bellioti, Yann and Romain Pissenem, John and Paul in Ibiza, Fricko, Sean, Marcus, Awat, Lucas, Ludde, Calle, Johannes, Filip, Levan, Otto, Oliver, my brothers David and Anton, my sister Linda, My parents Anki and Klas. Thank you to all the ones I didn't include in this moment. There has been too many people to mention in one sitting that had an impact on me in this industry and Im sorry I'm forgetting some of you. But last but not least thank you to every fan who has ever bought a ticket or snuck in, bought a song or downloaded it, commented on posts or hated at them. Its your thoughts and ideas about the music that helped me evolve and I do owe everything I have to you.
My path has been filled with success but it hasn’t come without its bumps. I’ve become an adult while growing as an artist, I’ve come to know myself better and realize that there’s so much I want to do with my life. I have strong interests in different areas but there’s so little time to explore them.
Two weeks ago, I took the time to drive across the U.S. with my friends and team, to just look and see and think about things in a new way. It really helped me realize that I needed to make the change that I’d been struggling with for a while.
My choices and career have never been driven by material things, although I’m grateful for all the opportunities and comforts my success has availed me. I know I am blessed to be able to travel all around the world and perform, but I have too little left for the life of a real person behind the artist.
I will however never let go of music - I will continue to speak to my fans through it, but I’ve decided this 2016 run will be my last tour and last shows. Let’s make them go out with a bang!
One part of me can never say never, I could be back ...but I won’t be right back.
Yours forever,
Tim Bergling / Avicii
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