Avicii’s music was a formative element in my life. My sister and I would always sing Hey Brother when driving home from school or around town when it was on the radio, it was one of the first songs that I felt we truly bonded over. About a year after it stopped playing regularly, it just so happened to come on one time, and we immediately got excited and started singing it like old times. A few years after that, she sent me a message one day saying she had heard it while walking around campus one day (she had went on to college, I was still in high school), and just by mentioning it, I was taken back to those days.

Wake Me Up was probably one of the first songs I truly felt I enjoyed. It helped me accept who I was and that I didn’t have to hide what I enjoyed to do just because I was afraid of what other people would think. Each song he made always carried a weight of significance for me. Thank you Avicii, for impacting my life and for everything you’ve given me, while I’ve never known you or met you, you were a friend to me through your music.

Rest in peace.