Paying tribute to Avicii, the doodle way: Google celebrates Tim Bergling's 32nd birth anniverary

Google Doodle decided to pay an unusual tribute to songwriter and Swedish DJ Tim Bergling - who was popularly known as Avicii - on his 32nd birth anniversary.

Sketched in the hues of neon, artist Alyssa Winans has illustrated the doodle. It shows Avicii playing the keyboards and composing music. When clicked on the doodle, a special motion-picture tribute pops up on YouTube.

The doodle video plays Bergling's most-iconic 2013 bluegrass-house-hybrid song 'Wake Me Up', showing how his music has touched people's lives, globally.


Bergling is known as one of the first artists to elevate electronic dance music (EDM) to mainstream global success. Avicii is also widely considered to have forever altered the trajectory of the Pop genre.


Being born into a family of creatives in Stockholm, Bergling grew up listening to multi-genre songs. At teen by the age of 16, he was mixing tunes and began writing uplifting electronic music.

In 2011, he made his debut with the dance anthem ‘Levels’ that topped Pop charts, and Avicii was introduced to the world.

His humanitarian side made him donate proceeds from his 2012 American tour, 'House for Hunger', for combating food insecurity worldwide. That same year, Madonna also joined him in closing Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, and the live stream broke the viewer record.

"From 2011 to 2016, Bergling played an estimated 220 Avicii sets globally, including a five-year residency in Ibiza and sold-out shows at the 16,000 person Ericsson Globe arena in Stockholm," Google statement said.

"Bergling was also among the first DJs and producers to share the spotlight previously reserved for vocalists and instrumentalists," the doodle website stated.

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Within a few years, Bergling racked up over a dozen global music awards such as Swedish Grammis Awards for Best Innovator (2012) and Best Artist (2014), as well as a World Music Award for Best Electronic Dance Artist (2014). In the U.S. he was nominated for several Grammys and won the American Music Award for Electronic Dance Music Artists (2013), the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song (2014), and the MTV Music Award for Best Dance Music Video (2018).

Bergling struggled with his mental health for years, and died by suicide in 2018 at the age of 28.

Soon after his untimely death, Avicii's family set up an organisation, Tim Bergling Foundation, to honour the late music producer's life and legacy, remove the stigma attached to suicide, and promote mental health awareness, especially among young people worldwide.

This year, Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe Arena - a symbol of Swedish pride - will be to Avicii Arena. Other than hosting events, the arena is used as a hub for the spreading awareness about mental health.