Tim Bergling would have celebrated his 31st birthday on September 8. It can only be said in so many ways—but there isn’t a moment that Avicii‘s reverberating impact isn’t still felt in dance music following his death in April, 2018. While there may be an outstretched register of iconic performances throughout the late legend’s tenure, from Tomorrowland 2011 to unabashedly reshaping his perspective on dance music at Ultra Music Festival 2013, to his final stage appearance at Ushuaïa in 2016, we continually find ourselves coming back to his Ultra Music Festival performance from 2016. In celebration of what would have been Avicii’s 31st birthday, it seems only fitting that we travel into Bayfront Park to re-experience a set that will permanently sit amongst our all-time favorites.

Ultra’s main stage has always famously been a breeding ground for top-tier new music and Avicii took that directly to heart on March 19, 2016. On a songwriting excursion alongside a handful of collaborators as well as his dog in the week prior, dubbed The Crowning of Prince Liam, Avicii traveled cross country from Los Angeles to Miami, piecing together music that he planned to unveil to the Ultra main stage crowd. Nine productions were debuted in the hour-long appearance, most of which were tracks alongside Sandro Cavazza that still remain unreleased to this day, including “We Burn” and “Our Love.” That evening would be the last time Avicii ever took the decks in Bayfront Park and would be one of his final festival appearances, announcing his planned touring retirement just a week later. While “Forever Yours” was later completed and released at the hands of Kygo and Sandro Cavazza at the top of 2020, it remains to be seen what the future holds, if any, for the trove of unreleased music that Avicii left on the table that night in Miami.

Happy birthday, Tim.

Featured image: Sean Eriksson

Tags: avicii, Kygo, Miami, Sandro Cavazza, Ultra Music Festival, unreleased

Categories: Music