In 2016, Avicii took to the stage one last time before he famously ended his touring career. This show happened at Ibiza’s massive club Ushuaïa, where the Swedish star closed the show with his most enduring hit.
That song, “Levels” turns 10 today. Released in the U.S. on October 28, 2011, it is considered one of the greatest dance tracks of all time and a track that defined the 2010-2020 era. One of the first blockbuster EDM crossovers, “Levels” spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011 and 2012, and led to Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling” — which used the same Etta James sample and credited Avicii as a co-writer — becoming a top five hit in 2012.
“People were tired of pop music, and there was no rock scene,” Per Sundin, who signed the track to Universal Music in 2011, told Billboard of the song in 2019. “I think the drop in EDM songs replaced the electric guitar. It was edgier than traditional pop music. It wasn’t tailor-made for radio.”
To celebrate the song’s anniversary and to honor the late artist who made it, on Thursday (Oct. 28) the Avicii team dropped a never-before-released video of the producer (born Tim Bergling) playing “Levels” at his final live set at Ushuaïa Ibiza.
In the video Avicii appears before a massive crowd, stating “Thanks so much for tonight. I couldn’t have asked for a better last show.” He then launches into the classic, which he mixes with pummeling Skrillex-style dubstep as pyro, fireworks and lasers light the sky and the show closes with the crowd chanting “Avicii” while Bergling is embraced by his team onstage.
As the world continues to mourn and commemorate Avicii — who took his own life in April of 2018 — the video is a reminder of his greatness and, ten years later, the song that remains his greatest hit.
Check out the video below.
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