Avicii News: DJ Working on New Album Before Death
Late Swedish DJ Avicii was working on a new album before his death.
This is according to long-time A&R executive and Geffen Records president Neil Jacobson, who revealed that he talked to the Swedish dance music star about the project two days before he was found dead in Muscat, Oman where he was vacationing.
In an interview with Variety, Jacobson went so far as to say that the unreleased album of Avicii, whose real name is Tim Bergling, was supposed to offer "his best music in years."
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"And I know because I [A&R'd] all of his albums. He was so inspired. He was so psyched. We had done a month of grinder sessions," he said.
"We had to actually put end times on the sessions because Tim would just work for 16 hours straight, which was his nature. You had to pull him out. Like, 'Tim, come on. Go to bed. Get some rest.'...It's just a tragedy. We have this incredible, magical music," he went on to say.
Avicii planned to have featured artists for the album, but Jacobson chose not to reveal who. He did say that the DJ had "a list of people" he was set to approach for his new music. Sadly, this ended up being the subject of the last conversation the Geffen executive will ever have with him.
It is unknown at this time if the album that Avicii worked so hard on leading to his death will ever be released. Jacobson said that he will talk to the music star's family "once everybody has a chance to take a breath."
"I've never actually had this happen with an artist I've worked with before and this closely. So, I don't know. We'll try to get some advice from the family and everybody's going to put their heads together and try and do what we think Tim would want us to do," he went on to say.
There is no word yet on the cause of death, although the authorities in Oman have confirmed after two autopsies that there was no "criminal suspicion" found.
Avicii has been known to have health issues. He had his gallbladder and appendix removed two years before he officially quit touring due to acute pancreatitis.
Jacobson said in the same interview that Avicii missed DJing after that as he remembered his "respect for art, creativity" and how he strived to be a great artist.
Tributes immediately came pouring following news of his death with his fellow dance music artists Alvin Harris, Diplo, and Marshmello crediting him for changing modern dance music forever.
Three of his songs were played out of the Dom Tower, the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, as a tribute, while fans gathered in Stockholm to remember him. Coachella singers and spectators also took time to mourn the electronic dance music superstar.
Avicii was the first EDM DJ to stage a worldwide arena tour and rose to become one of the biggest names in the industry of the last decade. His most popular songs are "Wake Me Up" and "Levels."
