Avicii's ex-girlfriend posts heartbreaking tribute to her 'closest confidante'
Renowned Swedish DJ, Tim Bergling, who recorded and performed under the pseudonym, Avicii, has passed away at the age of 28. A statement issued by his publicist confirmed that the Wake Me Up star was found dead in Oman last Friday.
"It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii. He was found dead in Muscat, Oman this Friday afternoon local time, April 20th," the release read. "The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given."
Tributes have been pouring out of the music community, and now, Avicii's ex-girlfriend, Emily Goldberg, has posted a heartbreaking eulogy to Instagram.
Along with a series of photographs of the pair, Golberg - who reportedly dated Avicii between 2011 and 2013 - revealed that he was her "closest confidante". "'Come on babe, don’t give up on us. Choose me, and I’ll show you love.’ Those are lyrics from a song Tim wrote for me. I wish I could have lived up to them. For the two years we were together, he was my closest confidante, and my best friend," she wrote on Instagram.
"Now, I can’t look at Bear without knowing I’ll never see his face again. I’m still collecting my thoughts and thank you for all your kind words and texts. Wake me up when it’s all, because I don’t want it to be real."
Goldberg also posted an image of one of their conversations. There are no dates listed on the screenshot, so this interchange could have been from years ago or just a few days ago - but either way, it's evident that they both cared deeply for each other.
Avicii had been increasingly open about his declining health in recent years. Back in January of 2012, the DJ was hospitalised for 11 days in New York with acute pancreatitis caused by excessive alcohol use. Two years later, Avicii underwent surgery and had both his gallbladder and appendix removed. And in 2016, after years of recurring health complications, Avicii retired from performing live.
"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," he said at the time. "I took on board too much negative energy. It was the best time of my life in a sense. It came with a price – a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety for me – but it was the best journey of my life."
And in an interview, the DJ once revealed: "Drinking became routine for me, but it's impossible to keep up touring and drinking at the same time, because you are going to crash."
This morning, police in Oman announced that there was no "criminal suspicion" in the death of the Swedish dance music star.