Swedish DJ Avicii, who led the global boom in electronic music, dies at 28

Agencies
April 21, 2018

It was a decision that shook the electronic dance world, and one Tim Berling, then 27, did not take lightly.

Before Berling, the Swedish DJ and producer known as Avicii, announced his retirement from touring just five years after his 2011 song Levels launched his meteoric rise, he had to break the news to the people closest to him. He had to explain to friends, handlers and business associates why, to attain happiness, he had to change his definition of success.

Then he had to explain to his fans.

"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," the musician wrote in an emotional letter on his website in 2016. "It really helped me realize that I needed to make the change that I'd been struggling with for a while."

He was grateful for the opportunities and comforts of his lucrative career, he wrote. But the lifestyle was exhausting, leaving too little left for the "life of a real person behind the artist." Avicii had canceled tour dates in 2014 after having his gall bladder and appendix removed, and had been hospitalized twice in the preceding two years for acute pancreatitis, according to Billboard.

He did leave the door open for a possible return to the EDM scene.

"I will however never let go of music," he concluded. "One part of me can never say never, I could be back . . . but I won't be right back."

Perhaps more than ever, those words resonated with his fans Friday. They were devastated by the news that Avicii, 28, was found dead in Muscat, Oman. The cause of his death has not yet been released.

His fans' unyielding devotion had made Avicii reluctant to retire from touring, despite his fame. Wake Me Up, Hey, Brother and Levels are among the biggest songs of the decade, having been streamed on Spotify more than a billion times. In 2012 and 2013, Avicii was nominated for two Grammy Awards for best dance recording.

"I was nervous when I made the announcement, mainly that I would look ungrateful," Avicii told the Hollywood Reporter shortly after. "But I've gotten so many supportive texts from friends in the industry, other DJs, other artists. The fan response has been incredible. And even the press response has been incredible. So yeah, it's been a lot better than I expected."

Fans on Friday wrote heartfelt tributes on their social media accounts and shared vibrant videos of the times they saw him perform live. Some said that, even after Avicii announced his retirement, they'd held hope they would see him on stage again.

But his decision to leave the limelight conveyed the pressures he felt as the face of electronic dance music, an industry he helped bring to prominence. A documentary about the DJ released six months ago, Avicii: True Stories, provides an unvarnished look at Avicii's rise to fame, according to a Variety review. The film reveals how managers and agents can risk a star's health and friendship to maximize their publicity and profitability, and includes moments when Avicii - who around this time was the world's sixth-highest-paid DJ, making about $19 million a year - is dreading his next plane ride or headline set.

"Young people can learn from this movie," Levan Tsikurishvili, the director and a longtime friend of Avicii, told Variety in September. "That life can look exciting and glamorous on Instagram and social media, but you don't really have any idea what's going on behind that."

Health scares made things harder. Before his gallbladder and appendix surgeries in 2014, he learned at age 21 that he had acute pancreatitis, which he said was in part caused by excessive drinking, Billboard reported.

"To me it was something I had to do for my health," he said about the decision to quit touring, according to Billboard. "The scene was not for me. It was not the shows and not the music. It was always the other stuff surrounding it that never came naturally to me. All the other parts of being an artist. I'm more of an introverted person in general. It was always very hard for me. I took on board too much negative energy, I think."

But that didn't mean he wanted to forgo success, Tsikurishvili told Variety. In fact, Avicii worked so hard during his years touring that a documentary scene shows him working from his hospital bed.

"But I think he didn't really know from the beginning [at age 19] what it means to be that successful," Tsikurishvili said. "No one knew that he could be that successful. It has been a weight for him. He's had to find himself."

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News Network
January 30,2020

Mumbai, Jan 30: A day after a woman filed a complaint against Ganesh Acharya alleging that he had forced her to watch pornography, actor Tanushree Dutta said Bollywood should boycott the choreographer.

A 33-year-old woman, an assistant choreographer, has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in suburban Andheri.

She also alleged that Acharya and two women assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA) held in suburban Andheri on Sunday. A complaint has been filed in this regard with Amboli police.

"It's time Bollywood and the other Indian film industries boycott choreographer Ganesh Acharya completely. Hiding behind the male superstars who work with this despicable man, he has been abusing his power and position to harass, bully and take advantage of vulnerable young newcomers to the industry," Dutta said in a statement here.

Dutta had alleged that her co-star Nana Patekar harassed and misbehaved with her while shooting for a song for their 2008 film "Horn Ok Pleasss", and Acharya, who was the choreographer, introduced new steps which were "intimate".

Recalling the trauma she faced, Tanushree said even though Acharya was party to all the harassment she faced on the 'Horn ok Pleasss" set, he went on to spoil her name and reputation.

"Nobody had any regard for me and how much I had suffered psychologically and financially because of the turmoil I went though due to these people. I left the industry because I was so scared and hurt over the atrocious treatment meted out to me on 'Horn ok Pleasss' set.

"I had worked very sincerely to get to where I got in life and so went in shock for many years, over the whole episode on that set almost 12 years ago, that led to an attack on my car. They didn't just break my car, they broke my spirit that day," Dutta said, in reference to the attack on her car in 2008.

She expressed her displeasure over how "leading men" and "heroes" of Bollywood continued working with Acharya, whose most recent work includes "Simmba", "Zero", "Sanju" among others.

"Even after all the information of fraud, non payment of dues, sexual harassment of dancers, bullying and intimidation and even physical abuse of dancers is coming out about Ganesh Acharya in the media, if the actors, directors and producers still work with him, it would mean that they themselves are engaging in such acts also.

"It's a warning to the film industry to stay the hell away from Ganesh Acharya otherwise your own reputation will be joined to his character. I'm sure many more girls and boys will come out about his misbehaviour and shady business, opening floodgates in the future," she added.

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News Network
June 15,2020

Mumbai, Jun 15: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's brother-in-law O.P. Singh, who is the Additional Director General of Police and posted as Special Officer in the Haryana Chief Minister's Office, suspected some foul play in the crime, it is reliably learnt on Monday. He is seeking a thorough probe into the incident.

"Sushant Singh Rajput has been murdered, he cannot commit suicide. I demand CBI enquiry into the matter," Jan Adhikar Party Chief Pappu Yadav told media persona at the actor’s residence in Patna, where his family resides.

The 34-year-old actor was found hanging at his apartment in Mumbai's Bandra on Sunday.

His sister lives in Chandigarh.

State officials said Singh has left for Mumbai soon he came to know about the suicide incident.

Expressing condolences, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said actor Rajput's death is an "irreparable loss" to not only the film industry but also for the entire society.

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News Network
May 25,2020

New Delhi, May 25: Sending out good wishes on the auspicious of Eid, actor Sara Ali Khan on Sunday shared a priceless childhood throwback picture, along with her picture from the current days.

The 'Simmba' star put out the cute picture on Instagram where she is seen clad in a pink hijab, while on the other hand, the second picture features the younger Sara as she is seen sporting a black dupatta while she tries to imitate the younger self.

Along with the picture, she wrote," Eid Mubarak," and urged people to stay safe by staying at home and urged them to stay positive amid the COVID-19 outbreak with "#staysafe #stayhome #staypositive."

The post on the photo-sharing platform garnered more than one lakh likes within an hour of being posted.

Lately, the 'Kedarnath' star has been keeping her fans updated on her quarantine activities by sharing pictures and videos of her quarantine activities.

Earlier, Sara took a trip down the memory lane and reminisced her graduation day by sharing throwback pictures from the ceremony.

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