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Avicii Retires From Tours And Live Shows At 26

By Stephen Jordan
Published on: 04:45 PST, Mar 29, 2016

Swedish producer and EDM DJ Avicii is retiring from live shows and tours at the age of 26, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Avicii, who was born Tim Berling, took to his Facebook page to announce the news to his loyal fans in a lengthy and emotional letter.

“My path has been filled with success but it hasn’t come without its bumps. I’ve become an adult while growing as an artist, I’ve come to know myself better and realize that there’s so much I want to do with my life. I have strong interests in different areas but there’s so little time to explore them. 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. It really helped me realize that I needed to make the change that I’d been struggling with for a while.”

Ever since January of 2012, Avicii has been dealing with health issues that have interfered with his live touring. The Grammy-nominated DJ was hospitalized in New York for 11 days, suffering from acute pancreatitis, which was reportedly brought on by heavy drinking. Avicii had easy access to plenty of alcohol, spending a large amount of time in bottle-service clubs and first-class flights.

In early 2013, after his pancreatitis had seemingly gone away, the condition flared up again, causing Avicii to cancel several live shows and stay hospitalized in Australia. Doctors urged him to have his gallbladder removed, yet he refused to go through with the procedure. He was prepping his debut studio album, True, which managed to top Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart for six weeks when it was released in September of 2013. But more illness in 2014 left Avicii no choice but to cancel a string of appearances in Miami, one that included a headlining slot at Ultra Music Festival. And at this point, Avicii had already stopped drinking.

Following his appendix bursting, Avicii finally got his gallbladder removed and immediately returned to touring. In October of 2014, Avicii, who’s always been somewhat of a workaholic, finally slowed things down and began to feel better.

Avicii’s announcement of retirement from live shows may not have anything to do with his health, as he didn’t specifically state the exact reason he would be stepping away from the tour life. But he did allude to wanting to explore other things in his life, and that doesn’t necessarily mean the EDM DJ is done with music altogether.

“I will however never let go of music — I will continue to speak to my fans through it, but I’ve decided this 2016 run will be my last tour and last shows,” Avicii wrote on Facebook. “Let’s make them go out with a bang! One part of me can never say never, I could be back…but I won’t be right back.”

Avicii has worked with artists like with Jon Bon Jovi, Serj Tankian of System of a Down, Chris Martin, Madonna, Wyclef Jean, Matisyahu, and Lenny Kravitz. It looks like he would be open to coming back, and he may even produce some hit records for any number of musicians/singers, but not anytime soon. Avicii teamed up again with Coldplay to co-produce their single “Hymn for the Weekend” from A Head Full of Dreams.

Avicii is said to release a third studio album later this year. It is rumored that the upcoming project will be titled Equal. This would be the follow-up to his sophomore album, Stories, which produced the singles “Waiting for Love,” “Pure Grinding,” “For a Better Day,” and “Broken Arrows.” Stories has sold over one million copies worldwide.

[Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision/AP]

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