In a new interview with the Sunday Times, Avicii's father, Klas Bergling, continues to advocate the mental health of aspiring musicians.
Although talking about suicide brings with it a natural, innate discomfort, Bergling doesn't shy away from the term. "You should call things as they are," he told the Times.
Bergling also shows that he has no qualms about confronting difficult memories related to his son's death. Immediately after Avicii's heartbreaking death, conversations swirled about the circumstances that could have led to such a tragedy.
Ultimately, Bergling attributes part of the reason to a lack of structure amid his son's meteoric rise. "It's fame and fortune, and it's a very dangerous combination," he explained. "If you have an aspiring artist, there should be a certain structure."
Bergling explains that in the absence of this structure, Avicii looked to alcohol, among other things, to deal with the pressure of being a world-renowned artist.
Avicii.
Sean Eriksson
In 2015, Avicii's family and friends staged an intervention because of her problematic behavior. Bergling said that particular moment left him conflicted. "It was one of the worst moments of my life because you really feel like you've cheated on your son," he said. "But it had to be done. It was naive. I've heard a thousand times that the fight starts when you're sober."
While Avicii underwent rehabilitation to address some of these substance abuse issues, the underlying challenges related to his battle against mental health remained. By 2017 he had withdrawn from the tour after suffering from acute pancreatitis. He died in 2018 at the age of just 28.
Although in retrospect it seems clear that Avicii had problems, Bergling admits that even he missed some obvious signals.
Today, Avicii's parents are co-founders of the Tim Bergling Foundation, an organization that works to recognize suicide as a global health emergency. You can donate to the foundation here.
