01x11 - Avicii

[bunniefuu]

Avicii was a huge,
wildly popular DJ and producer,

electronic musician.

Avicii was thrown into
the lion's den

of the exploding EDM scene,
but he was also a lion himself.

That lifestyle is fast
and furious.

His fans were along for the ride.

The DJ became the new rock star.

There wasn't anyone around him
who said,

"Maybe this is too much."

To die so young and so suddenly,

i think it was an awful shock
to a lot of people.

It came out immediately
that it was suicide.

There's also a ton of fans out
there who have come up

with all sorts of alternative
explanations.

We don't have the definitive
clues about how he died,

why he died, what happened.

Fans are saying this was a m*rder,

and who could have done it?

If he decided to fake his death,

the way he died would have been
a really good way to do it.

Everything is shrouded in mystery.

911 emergency.

The official narrative doesn't
tell the whole story.

You really have to look
at everything.

You still have to go down
that rabbit hole,

still have to go down that path.

When a celebrity dies,

the search for answers
moves online,

and the truth may be
one click away.

April 2018.

The Swedish DJ and EDM superstar
known as Avicii escapes to Oman

on the Arabian Peninsula
for a secluded holiday.

Avicii had a friend
who was in Oman.

Some some people visited him.

He was socializing.

He was working on music.

But a vacation in the
remote kingdom turns tragic.

Ten days into the trip,
Avicii is found dead.

A statement released by
the family explains the cause.

They believe their son
k*lled himself.

It's an ending that no one
following Avicii

and his entourage saw coming.

They're just making music.

There's nothing to worry
about here.

There's no, like, problem
that is obvious.

The unexpected news stuns the
music and entertainment world.

Avicii's fans and the entire
music industry

are in disbelief
that this young superstar's life

has ended almost as quickly
as it came to be.

My name is Zel McCarthy.

I'm a music journalist.

He had a real kind of
orchestral, symphonic mind.

Electronic music allowed him
to create the sounds

he was hearing in his head

without assembling
a 100 person orchestra.

Behind the EDM heavyweight
known as Avicii is Tim Bergling.

He's just a kid from Stockholm

born with a talent
for making music.

He was able to get his hands
on some software

that allowed him to make
computerized music

in his bedroom as a teenager.

And he started posting tracks
on message boards.

With just a laptop
and his musical instincts,

he captures the attention

of a growing
electronic dance music industry.

This is at a time
when a huge influx of people

were coming into the dance
music scene

and they wanted to go
to these massive festivals

and see this kind of orgy
of pyrotechnics

and LED screens and sound.

He swims in a sea of aspiring DJs.

But his tracks stand out
and his reputation grows.

There was a real fascination
with who this young

Swedish dude was.

And the real mystique
started building.

When Tim Bergling makes
his first appearances

at music festivals
around the world,

he stands behind the boards
with a stage name.

Tim Bergling becomes Avicii.

Avicii came to the party
as a newcomer,

and that's actually
what people wanted.

The new generation of fans

wanted someone they felt like
was their own.

With a 2011 release of a track
called "Levels",

Avicii rockets to the pinnacle
of the EDM world.

It was a huge hit in the clubs,

and then it became a huge hit
on the charts.

But that was really
only the beginning.

Avicii takes levels
to Ultra and Ibiza.

He headlines the biggest
electronic music

festivals in the world.

But his biggest hit
is still to come.

The next big release from Avicii
was called

"Wake Me Up",
and that transcended genre.

It became a certifiable pop hit,

and it solidified Avicii's
status as a pop megastar.

There were no other DJs or,
like, electronic music producers

who had become
global pop icons before then.

But behind the tables of the
most electrifying DJ

in the world
is just a kid that made it big.

I'm Kathryn Frazier.

I have been in the music
industry for 30 years.

Avicii obviously was an icon

and, you know, a very revered
person in electronic music.

And then as a human,
I always heard nothing

but that he was a sweetheart.

Tim is a sweetheart.
That's all I ever heard.

Avicii's sudden death reveals
the humanity

behind the face of a superstar.

He was a little shy
and a little socially awkward,

but he didn't dislike people.

I mean, he wanted to connect.

And that's what I always felt
when he was talking to me,

is, like, he wanted to say

something to connect
to another person,

to let someone else
know what it was

that he was thinking or feeling.

In the days after Avicii's death,

Omani authorities
conduct an autopsy.

They say Avicii died
of blood loss.

No further details are given.

It's a report so vague
that it sows doubt,

confusion, and suspicion.

My name is Deanna Thompson.

I was in a documentary called
"Don't F... k With Cats".

It highlights my work as a sleuth

trying to find a person
who was k*lling cats online

that eventually ended up
k*lling a human being.

Ever since that documentary
came out,

my inbox was full of people
asking for help with cases

that have been difficult
to break open.

When the autopsy confirms

that Avicii died from blood loss,

and that's all that
we really know for sure.

Two weeks after the autopsy,

a bombshell report from TMZ
provides grim new details.

It's reported in different ways.

One is that he used a wine
bottle to slash his on throat.

The other is that he used a wine
bottle to slash his wrists.

Disturbing details about
Avicii's death

come from the tabloids.

They're inconsistent

and the source
of information is unclear.

Online sleuths break down the
few known facts about his death.

One report stands out.

According to "People Magazine",

DJ Avicii's brother was on his
way to Oman,

was like literally
in the air on a plane,

landed 2 hours after
DJ Avicii had been found.

One of Avicii's friends called
his brother for help.

Something must have happened
to scare

that friend enough
to call his family.

Nobody knows what that is.

It was bad enough that
his brother hopped on a plane

from Stockholm to Oman.

Online, fans question
why Avicii's brother

was rushing to see him in Oman.

Was he threatening
to k*ll himself?

Was he in a bad place?

What does his family say?

Maybe they'll have
some information.

But they're not giving any details

about the circumstances
about the suicide.

Avicii's family references
a suicide note.

But there's no mention
of one anywhere else.

It's a fact that causes
some to question

whether one actually exists.

There's no mention
of what the suicide note said,

where it was, who found it.

Was it in his writing?
Was it typed up?

Was it on his computer?

There's no details about it.

The only document made public
is a cryptic statement

from Omani authorities.

And they don't even release
the autopsy report.

They release, like, a photo
of the autopsy report

that's highly redacted.

It doesn't really give
any information at all.

The complete absence
of real information leaves fans

and amateur investigators
completely baffled.

With so little to go on,
some begin to raise questions

about Avicii's decision to
escape for a holiday in Oman.

It's small kingdom in
the Middle East

run by an extremely powerful
and secretive royal family.

Freedom
of the press doesn't exist.

The lack of transparency
immediately triggers

conspiracy theorists
and amateur investigators alike.

My name is Justin Ling.

I am a freelance
investigative journalist.

I think whenever there's a death
like this

in a country like Oman,

there's always
going to be a desire

or maybe a need to actually
press the authorities there

for actual details about what
investigative steps they took.

Omani authorities have offered
up only sparse details

on the circumstances
surrounding Avicii's death.

Avicii's family reports that,
under mounting pressure,

the DJ superstar k*lled himself.

Media outlets report that
he used a broken wine bottle

to cut himself.

Without an official line,

the Internet explodes
with alternative theories.

On Reddit and on Rumble,
users discuss an Omani cover up.

Elsewhere online,

posts suggesting Avicii was
worked to death grow in number.

And a far out theory claiming
that Avicii faked his death

continues to evolve
in corners of the Internet.

If there's one thing I've learned,

it's that the more
transparent somebody is,

the less speculation
needs to be done.

But the more confusing, the more
secretive that things are,

the more that you see conspiracy
theories popping up online.

He's still alive.

Maybe somebody k*lled him.

Maybe he was worked to death.

Maybe.
We don't know.

There is no consistency
on certain details.

And those details are what
he was doing the day

prior to his death,

where his body was found,

and who found him.

Those kind of details matter.

Family and friends say
Avicii's trip

to the remote
Middle Eastern country

was a much needed holiday.

That was supposed to be an
opportunity for him to recharge,

get back into the studio,

return to the thing
that he loved to do,

which was to make music.

And I think for some time, it was.

Scanning press releases
and social media posts,

online sleuths break
down details about the trip.

They learn that Avicii
sets up shop with friends

at the luxurious
Muscat Hills Resort.

So he reportedly has friends
in the royal family in Oman.

So he's going to Oman to, like,
kind of rest and recuperate

and hang out with his friends
in the royal family.

According to a report in
"Rolling Stone Magazine",

a day after arriving,

he holds a conference call with
members of his management team.

There's discussion over which
guest artists

he wants to recruit
for some new music.

It seems like it's all routine
business for the superstar DJ.

Six days before he died,

a fan sees him in, like, the
lobby and approaches him and,

"Oh, my God, DJ Avicii,
can I get a picture?"

"Sure."
And he's all smiles.

She posted to Instagram.

"I can't believe I met DJ Avicii.

What's going on?
Oh, my God."

He's discussing new projects.

He's talking to fans.

As investigators break down
the days

leading up to Avicii's death,

they can't identify anything
unusual about his activities.

According to everyone
who saw Avicii in the days

before his death,

he seemed to be
in a pretty good mood.

It seems like there's
nothing extraordinary

about Avicii's behavior in Oman.

But a late breaking story upsets
everything that's known

so far about Avicii's last days.

And they reported that Avicii
was visiting the Sultan's

relatives at this farmhouse
and his body was found there.

Now they're reporting from
the Swedish consulate in Oman.

So they're on site,

they're in Oman, and they say,

"This is where his body
was found."

There's two sets of stories.

One is that DJ Avicii was found

at the royal family, like,
farmhouse,

and another is that DJ Avicii
was found at the hotel.

I have no have no idea
which one is true.

The conflicting story overturns
the authority

of an already vague
official explanation.

So when determining where
DJ Avicii was found

or where he died,

that's super complicated
and hard to determine.

It's in a total
information blackout.

There's no information
that's available to us

that is validated to say
where DJ Avicii died.

A controversial theory
spreads online.

It's an accusation that claims
Omani authorities

are behind a cover-up.

And it's a theory
that's spreading fast.

Do I think that
it's being reported

that way intentionally
to obfuscate some facts?

Yes, I do.

His fans are saying,
"We deserve answers."

We don't know because it's secret.

So all that leaves us to do
is sit here and speculate.

This is going to be a lot
more difficult

than I thought it was going to be.

♪♪

There's a complete
information blackout

on Avicii's mysterious death.

Oman is an absolute monarchy.

A wall of official silence
prevails.

The monarchy in Oman
controls everything.

I mean, they control everything
from top to bottom.

But in the West, suspicions
that Omani authorities

covered up a m*rder
circulate online,

undercutting the official line.

The fans are saying,

"There's no way he k*lled himself.

This was a m*rder.

And who could have done it?"

Fans collect disturbing rumors
from the tabloids

and look for holes
in the official story.

All across the Internet,

without dependable information,

theories from the plausible
to the absurd multiply.

But amidst all the chatter online,

users of one particular site

are investigating a highly
charged and shocking allegation

against the Oman royal family.

DJ Avicii has a pretty active
Reddit board,

and there are a couple threads
in there about his death.

There's rumors and speculation
about the former sultan of Oman,

and I could not substantiate
those rumors.

They're just rumors online.

It's the wildest theory
found online.

There's speculation that Avicii
discovered a deeply

hidden secret in the Omani court.

And supposedly, complicit police
cover it up by hiding the facts.

With the absence of real cold,
hard facts,

this is what happens
when somebody famous dies.

It's a theory that racks up
thousands of views

and gains more and more traction.

it seems as far out as it
is popular.

Avicii's death came just
about a year

after the death of Chris Cornell,

came around the same time as
the death of Chester Bennington,

the former Linkin Park frontman.

And they concluded
that they must all be linked.

Reddit users post theories
that Avicii was working

with other artists to
expose a worldwide conspiracy.

Avicii, Chris Cornell,
Chester Bennington,

and maybe some others

had all been working
on a documentary

exposing child sex trafficking.

And supposedly, this documentary
was going to expose

the global
human trafficking elite.

Now it spreads across
all social media platforms.

There is increasingly a social
media ecosystem

for conspiracy theories
and disinformation.

So I started digging around for
more information about Avicii

as he might relate
to a human trafficking ring.

And there's a lot.

There's a whole bunch of videos

that claim to have uncovered
kind of the truth

behind what happened to Avicii,

obviously claiming that he was
m*rder*d, particularly

because he was about to expose

some kind of human
trafficking operation.

The Omani authorities still
haven't released

a formal cause of Avicii's death.

His fans are saying,

"We as people
who loved him deserve answers.

The government of Oman
owes it to us."

But requests for more
information go unanswered.

It's hard for us here
to understand

living in a closed society

where those rights and freedoms
do not exist at all.

And maybe even asking about
that type of information

could make you disappear.

An Omani cover-up is just one
viral theory spreading online.

One explanation gives fans hope.

Somewhere like Oman does offer
some real possibilities

if you want to fake
your own death and disappear.

Another claims that the reason
for his death

came from within his own circle.

I'm looking into whether or not
the music industry

has some blame to bear
for Avicii's death.

Online and in the media,

theories that Avicii was pushed
beyond human limits are growing.

And many think EDM and pop
icon Avicii

paid the ultimate price
on the road to success.

There are stories of
Broadway actors

who will go from one show
where they're in Act One

to across Broadway
to the next show,

where they're in Act Two.

They've been rehearsing
as actors for years.

And that's effectively
what Avicii was expected to do.

A career that Avicii
couldn't possibly fathom

took flight from the musical ideas

he composed in his bedroom.

Insiders worry that it took him
into a world

with demands he couldn't handle.

When you are in your bedroom
producing records,

it's impossible to imagine

what the effect
of those records can be.

Yeah, like, you can think of
yourself standing on the stage

in front of thousands
and thousands of people

and how that might feel.

But you really don't know
what it's like

until you've been on that stage

Before Avicii steps foot
in a club,

he's composing tracks that plug
into the exploding EDM scene.

They wanted to have someone
at the center of it

that they could be in awe of.

The world of electronic music
production has grown massive.

That definitely blew up
with the expl*si*n of EDM

and big artists like Avicii,
who toured all over the world,

playing big, giant parties,
basically.

Avicii rises with the popularity

of a new kind of dance music.

But it's a performance that puts
mounting demands

on a one person show.

It's a different set up than
when you have groups and bands.

You can hit
a different city every night.

So the touring and the travel
is really rigorous.

Avicii's career starts small.

He begs to get in the door.

One year, 2010, Avicii was
trying to get booked in Miami

during Ultra Music Festival week
for $400 for a gig.

Could not get that.

The next year,
he's making $250,000.

He's headlining at Ultra.

He's playing on the main stage.

With expl*sive success comes
more shows and more travel.

Dates in Avicii's touring
schedule multiply.

After the release of "Wake Me Up",

Avicii rockets
into the stratosphere.

It's the most streamed track
on Spotify.

But fans don't just want
to listen.

They want to see him live.

This lifestyle can sound
really glamorous.

You get on a private jet,
you fly to a new city,

you play a show,
you do the after party,

you get on a plane,
you go to another show,

you play that, do the after party.

That can be incredibly hard
to keep up.

It's a pounding schedule.

The pressure mounts
as Avicii's growing success

demands more and more work.

It's estimated he played 800 shows

in just a span of a few years,

sometimes more than 200 shows
in a single year.

That sort of thing can have
a really damaging effect.

But the problem is, is that when
you go from nothing

to the peak of the industry,

you have missed
the opportunities to gain

all the experience
that other artists

have had on their way
to that same peak.

Avicii is new to the never
ending cycle of tours.

His health suffers.

And with little experience
to fall back on,

every day, it brings
a growing toll.

It's really easy to get lost
in the fantasy of that.

And when that fantasy starts
becoming a reality,

it's really hard to think
of reasons why you should stop.

I mean,
here's somebody who's doing

something that they deeply loved

that was causing them
an immense amount of pain.

The things that people
want musicians to do,

you can't do it
if you're falling apart.

And he knows he's vulnerable.

He knows he's vulnerable.

After Avicii is found dead
during a trip to Oman,

fans spread alternate theories

attempting to explain
his sudden death.

I do think that there is
some value

in looking at these
different theories

and saying, "Hmm, do any of
these make sense?

Do any of these have
the ring of truth?"

One theory suggests Avicii
pushed himself too hard.

As his success grows,

he's showing signs
he can't keep the pace.

To cope with the pressure,
he looks for help

before he hits the stage.

He would drink to calm himself
down, make himself feel better,

give himself that confidence,

that liquid courage
to get up on the stage.

That takes a toll.

I mean, it takes a toll
on anybody,

but especially when your
lifestyle is just drinking,

drinking, not a lot of sleep,
staying up late,

going from city to city.

The touring schedule alone

can be extremely harmful
to your health.

But when you add in the drinking
and the partying,

it can be incredibly toxic.

He eventually missed the dates
at Ultra in Miami,

which became the first sign
of there being actual trouble.

This wasn't just a DJ who was
off the rails getting too drunk.

This was a DJ who might not be
on the right path.

Signs of an imminent breakdown
are nearly invisible

to those on the outside.

At that point, a lot of us
were saying,

"Well, there's something more here

that isn't just a bad boy
who likes to drink.

Then the wheels come off.

Searing abdominal pain lands
Avicii in a New York hospital.

And they're telling him
you have pancreatitis.

You need to quit drinking.

All this fame, coupled with
the punishing touring schedule,

definitely took its toll
on Avicii's health.

But Avicii doesn't quit.

He was meant to do
a string of dates

and had to cancel several of them

because the pancreatitis flare up

was so severe.

It was advised that he had his
gallbladder removed.

But that would have pulled him
off the road for even longer.

Doctors urge surgery.

but Avicii's relentless schedule
continues.

I think for most of us,
if you are being advised

to have an internal organ
removed by doctors,

there's really not a lot of debate

as to whether or not
you should do that.

But when you are at the center

of a burgeoning multimillion
dollar industry

that is based on you,
it's not that cut and dry.

He was in a lot of pain

and he was addicted
to opioids and drinking.

I mean, just like the recipe
for disaster.

Avicii limps to show after show,

igniting one crowd after another.

But he needs to stop for
the sake of his own health.

You know, when you're
a famous musician,

you're kind of like an avatar.

You're a character.

I do think people forget,

you know, that there's a human
behind this

and that things can go very dark.

Throughout Avicii's short
career, cameras roll.

This was also the beginning
of an era

where artists would have their
own camera person with them,

creating kind of the illusion
of transparency,

like everything's
being documented.

It's documentation that feeds
the machine

building Avicii's success.

The reality is that camera
person's footage

was being highly managed

and controlled
by the artist's management.

So they were able to control
their own narrative.

But after Avicii dies,
a documentary is released

that uses the footage
to tell a different story.

It's uncomfortable watching
that documentary,

seeing how hectic his life was.

Like, it made me uncomfortable.

It blows the cover off a story
only insiders may have known.

There's a scene
where DJ Avicii is on tour.

He's, like, always on tour, right?

And he lands in Australia
and he's like,

"I need to go to the hospital,
like, right now."

So they take him to the hospital

and the cameraman
is in the hospital room.

Many start to wonder if some
blame for Avicii's death

should lie elsewhere.

He's like,
"I can't take it anymore.

I need a break."

No matter what level
of success they reached,

it was never going to be enough.

The music industry and its
intense greed

is what k*lled Avicii.

An expl*sive documentary fuels
a controversial theory

about why Avicii was suicidal.

There's a scene
where he's in Las Vegas

and he's in front of this
big glass window.

And he's talking to his, like,
entourage.

And he's like, "Guys,
I can't keep doing this."

A lot of people who were in his
immediate entourage

were on the payroll.

And you never really know
in that case

if their best interests
are aligned

with the artists
that they're around.

Proponents of this theory
suggest Avicii

was overworked by his management,

and this intense pressure

may have contributed to his death.

So they're pushing him
to keep going and keep going,

keep going,

and he's like,
"I can't take it anymore.

I need a break."

Some investigators online point
towards one person.

A lot of scrutiny has been paid
to his former manager,

Arash Pournouri.

Pournouri may have been
the secret to his success.

Arash is very driven.

He is clearly very good
at what he does.

And he took Avicii from, like,
posting on the Internet

and MySpace
to making a $750,000 show.

Arash Pournouri is a well
known EDM promoter

who signed Avicii in 2007.

It was after the pair
teamed up that Avicii's career

went into the stratosphere.

According to some people
who knew Avicii,

they said he took
advantage of the DJ,

and that according to one

somewhat distant family member,

he was greedy and too hard on him.

Online, there's emphasis
on how much Arash Pournouri

stood to gain
from Avicii's success.

Collecting a hefty percentage
of every dollar

that Avicii made,

money is a clear motive
from his management

to push him to do more and more.

There's no turning off
for these kids.

Like, they have to keep going

because there's a lot
of money at stake

and there's a lot
of shows to be played.

So it's the cycle,
the vicious cycle.

Avicii plays hundreds of shows.

He takes on promotions
with dozens of companies.

He's travelling.
He's doing interviews.

He's producing.

The last time I saw him
was at a brand event

where he was the brand ambassador

or really just like
the model in the ad.

And he just seemed like
he didn't want to be there.

And you could understand why,

because there's a lot
of pressure on a person

to be the face of a
multimillion dollar ad campaign.

His mountain of work is booked
primarily by his management.

It's a never ending cycle
that may have been a factor

in landing Avicii in the hospital

There is a physical manifestation

that comes from this lifestyle.

The machine can't stop.

It's hard to jump on and off
and also repair yourself.

Despite Avicii's failing health,

his team continues to book gigs.

Online sleuths wonder
if the never ending tours

should have stopped.

It's a lifestyle that's
unsustainable, and Tim Bergling,

the human being behind Avicii,

pleads for the wild ride
to slow down.

He had tried for some time
to kind of downgrade the pace.

It just wasn't possible.

Once you get to that level,

nobody was willing to say,

"Okay, yeah, let's do a club tour.

Let's play to 500 people
and secondary markets

and just have a good time."

With so much riding
on Avicii's career,

to some, he's no longer

taking control
of his schedule or his health.

The documentary 100%
fueled the theory

that his management team
pushed him to the point

where Ash had to,
like, address it.

He had to come out
and make a statement

saying that the way
that the documentary was edited

made him look bad

and that things
weren't really that way.

♪♪

Online, there's debate whether
being overworked

contributed to Avicii's decision
to take his own life.

Arguments that his management team

is a convenient scapegoat
for a much bigger issue

within the entire industry
gain traction.

The music industry
has always been greedy

and, frankly, unconcerned
with the health

and the well-being
of many of the people

who go through their star system.

Whether that was predominantly
Black musicians

earlier in the century,

whether it was Motown
in the '60s and '70s,

or whether it's Britney Spears
in the early 2000s,

Avicii comes from
a long line of stars

who have been used and abused
by the music industry.

Show after show, Avicii is
transformed from man to machine

with a momentum of its own.

And it just won't stop.

It seems very clear
that the music industry,

the fame, the demanding schedule

had worsened
his problems of addiction,

had worsened his anxiety
and his depression.

The machine basically took over,

and it needed to be fed.

it needed to keep running.

And the fuel for that was Tim's
blood, sweat, and tears.

♪♪

You know, there's no evidence
that he died anywhere.

He's still alive somewhere.

♪♪

♪♪

On April 20, 2018,

fans of Swedish deejay
and music producer Avicii

are shaken by the news
of his death.

But some conspiracy theorists
refuse to believe

that the pressures
and exhaustion he faced

overwhelmed him, leading him
to take his own life.

They have a much bolder theory.

That is a fake death
if I've ever seen one

in my entire life.

They believe the deejay
faked his own death

to escape the success
that was k*lling him.

If Avicii's plan
was to disappear and he did,

I mean, that's literally
a true conspiracy.

Do I find it a possible scenario?

Yes.

I imagine when certain people

reach such a high level of fame,

they may actually want to retreat

back to what we would consider,
like, a normal life

and maybe try
to disappear themselves.

Online sleuths analyze a theory

that has taken hold
on the Internet.

My background lies
in Army counterintelligence,

as well as forensics
and criminal justice

and law enforcement.

The violent and unusual way

that Avicii reportedly
takes his own life

leads some fans to believe
the whole thing could be a hoax.

Why break a bottle
and use a piece of broken glass

when there's probably
other instruments in the room

that would be easier to use?

The method feels too brutal
to be plausible.

It always makes me wonder
if they did it at all.

Online, fans
start pulling on a thread

that unravels a different
kind of cover-up...

an elaborate plan
designed to help the EDM star

escape his professional persona.

What if Avicii died,
but Tim Bergling is still alive?

I think DJ Avicii loved his fans.

I absolutely believe that.
But I don't think he loved fame.

In 2016, Avicii tries to take
a step back from touring.

He writes an open letter
explaining his need to slow down

for the sake of his mental health.

He didn't want to
disappoint people.

He didn't like people
being upset with him.

The letter resonates
with many fans.

They post notes of encouragement

in support of Avicii's decision
to quit touring.

But there is still an outcry.

Many fans wonder if he needed

to take more drastic steps
to escape it all.

And the only way for him to,
like, get out of it totally

without disappointing people
and having to face them

is to, like,
fake his death, right?

In order for that to be possible,

everything
would need to be planned

down to the exact detail.

According to the theory,

Avicii's decision
to vacation in Oman

is a calculated one.

I pondered for a while
why Avicii chose to go to Oman.

Looking at Oman from, like,
a military tactical standpoint,

it's actually a great location
to disappear from.

Even the resort where Avicii
allegedly stayed

could be a launching pad
to a new life.

Looking at Google Earth maps,

there are no other residential
or commercial properties

bordering this resort,

and it has basically an inlet,

or a bay of water, all to itself.

He has access to a private dock.

He could get on a boat,
and then he can go to

about a dozen other countries.

And Avicii has prior links
to some of these countries.

Avicii had vacationed
in Madagascar previously,

and that's also where he filmed
the music video

for his song "Heaven."

Madagascar is one of the countries

down the coast from Oman.

Not only is Oman geographically
a good strategic choice,

but elements in the country

may give him the help he needs
to pull off the plan.

Online investigators focus in
on his rumored connections

to Oman's royal family.

They may have had the resources
and their own connections

to actually help him leave
their country and go elsewhere.

In Oman, where he was
so well connected,

where the autopsies
are not going to come out,

it certainly is a good place
to... to vanish.

But there are still
a lot of unknowns,

including what exactly is
going on in Avicii's head

in the days
leading up to his alleged death.

This is a case
where there is a real void

of confirmable,
observable information.

That is, until 2021,

when a new, crucial source
of information is released...

entries from Avicii's diary.

And he wrote,
"The shredding of the soul

is the last attachment
before it restarts."

It is the final entry in his diary

and had been made
the day before his death.

It could be interpreted
in so many ways.

That statement could have
so many different meanings.

Reports that Avicii was deeply
exploring his spirituality

could provide some insight.

In the beginning of April of 2016,

he's starting to get into, like,

meditation and things like that.

And he gets a guru
to, like, train him

how to do
transcendental meditation.

And he wants to move,
like, super quick.

He wants to get whatever's
inside him fixed.

And the teacher is like,

"No, this is, like,
a learned practice,

and you should only be
really doing this

like 15 minutes a day."

But DJ Avicii was doing
like two hours at a time,

which is not recommended.

And I don't know
what happens to you

when you exceed that timeframe.

Like, do you get too
into your own head?

It's a fascination on the brink
of obsession.

It could be an indicator

that Avicii was ready to move on,

to basically, you know,
be reborn in a way,

to start this new alternate life

and leave the last one behind.

But in order to vanish
without a trace,

Avicii would need to make
the ultimate sacrifice.

If someone truly disappears,

it's almost like going into
the witness protection program.

You have to cut all ties

with everybody that you knew
in your life,

including your family.

If Avicii is still alive,

he's left his loved ones
to grieve.

This really made me think twice.

For Avicii, a new life
may be priceless,

but one thing is certain...

if anyone can afford it, he can.

Avicii had the means to disappear,

if that's what he wanted to do.

But to really effectively
disappear for years,

he probably would need somebody

who can be a conduit
between his money and himself

so that there's not
a direct link between the two.

There's zero evidence
of such a thing happening.

People just start speculating

and coming up with scenarios
on what could have happened.

If it was Avicii's intention
to never be seen again,

we may never know the truth.

If somebody disappears
effectively,

no one's gonna know about it.

Unless he decides
to be found again one day.

But the debate continues about
all the conspiracy theories

explaining Avicii's death.

I want the answers because
I'm super into justice

and I want the truth,

but I know that I'm not
owed any answers.

♪♪

By most accounts,
Avicii is on vacation

during his time in Oman.
Days of overwork and stress

are in the past.

But his death is so unexpected,
fans can't help but speculate

on whether
he really took his own life.

The Omani authorities have
never released the autopsies,

nor any investigative files
into the deejay's death.

There's so little detail,

I think it's kind of natural

that people are expecting
more answers than they got.

But if it wasn't suicide,

many fans feel the true story of
Avicii's death needs to be told.

Lack of transparency
from the Omani government

leads to suspicion
of a m*rder cover-up.

I think with a case like Avicii,

where everything
is shrouded in mystery,

there is nothing you can
really rule out 100%

as being totally false.

Sleuths search for the origins
of a theory spreading online

that implicates
the Omani royal family.

But the sources seem questionable.

This article about
Avicii's death was written

by one of the conspiracy
theorists behind Pizzagate.

And Facebook removed it for
violating their terms of service

because it's so bogus.

It is so fake.

It's a conspiracy
within a conspiracy,

fake news of the first degree.

♪♪

Others believe the real
culprit of Avicii's death

is his own work
and management team.

But this theory runs up
against some of the hard facts.

By 2016, he quit touring
altogether,

opting instead to just stick to
the studio and recording music.

He said in interviews years
later that the anxiety

and the stress of all that touring

was just too much for him.

That same year,
Avicii also parts ways

with his manager, Arash Pournouri.

Meaning they weren't
working together

for the last two years
of the star's life.

Having scaled back
significantly in 2016,

the timing for this theory
doesn't quite add up.

And his former manager
may not be the monster

some fans say the documentary
made him out to be.

Pournouri has slammed
the documentary,

suggesting they took him
out of context

and made him look
intentionally bad.

In fact, he added that after
Avicii's pancreatitis,

he worked hard to keep alcohol
away from the star.

And Avicii's family
have been pretty blunt

that they do not blame
Pournouri for Avicii's death.

Finally, a more optimistic theory

is held by those who hold out hope

that Avicii is still alive.

But there are clear problems
with this theory.

The logistics
are just so difficult.

And I would think by now,
six years later,

that somebody
who Avicii needed help from

to put this plan together

would have leaked some information

and we would have
heard of it by now.

And there's an even bigger hole
in this conspiracy.

Avicii's family flies to Oman
to personally identify his body.

There's no question
about his death.

Sometimes fans have a hard time
processing

that the person they really love
and look up to is gone.

While all of these theories
have circulated,

the people who know Avicii best
have never appeared to waver

in their belief that the real
explanation for Avicii's death

is also the simplest.

This is horrible to say,
but it's the truth.

When he died,
people were not surprised.

It was shocking, it was
horrible, it was sad,

but this is...

this was the outcome
that so many had feared

and hoped would never come,

but knew was possible all along.

It's important that those

who want to delve
into Avicii's death

listen to what his family
is saying.

In their public statement
following his death,

Avicii's family more
or less confirms

he had taken his own life.

People who k*ll themselves

really never give
any clear warnings.

Depression and addiction and pain

and things that you can't
really control...

they come over you like a tsunami.

It's unexpected, and, you know,

you don't always present
that you want to die, right?

It just happens.

And it's very rarely planned

that you're going
to k*ll yourself.

This was a person,
a regular person

whose predilection for addiction

and struggles with mental health

were ignored by an industry,

whose own human experience

was at odds with the expectations

of a world that wanted him
to do inhuman things.

By the time he tried
to distance himself

from all of this and take a break,

it was too late.

Tim's family honors his memory

by creating
the Tim Bergling Foundation.

Hoping to use some of the
publicity around this tragedy

to educate others,

to draw attention
to mental health,

and hopefully to prevent
other suicides in the future.

♪♪

In the end, Tim couldn't save
himself from his own demons.

But at the center of this
tragedy is a person

who was able to speak directly

to the hearts of millions
in the EDM community.

♪♪

It's hard to process
the information

that they would want to...
to end their own life.

It's hard to comprehend how the
person who made "Wake Me Up,"

one of the most beautiful
and optimistic records, could...

I mean, I don't want
to get emotional.

Um...

It's hard to understand
why that person would want to...

to... to no longer be alive.