All language subtitles for ReSolved s01e11 Avicii.eng

- 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 murder,

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 killed 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 killing cats online

that eventually ended
up killing 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 kill 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 killed 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 killed 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 murder
circulate online,

undercutting the official line.

- The fans are saying,

"There's no way
he killed himself.

This was a murder.

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 murdered, 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 explosion 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 explosive 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 killed Avicii.

- An explosive 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 killing 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 murder 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 kill 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 kill 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.

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