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For many millennials Avicii started their love of electronic music, for others he was simply part of the new circuit of talent, steadfast in his ability to draw from all corners of music. As for industry folk, he was one of ‘those artists’ you heard about nonstop. Always sporting a backwards hat and a tight grin, Avicii was popular.

The Swedish producer-DJ was found dead in Muscat, Oman, confirmed by reps on April 20, 2018. He was 28. Details are still under wraps, but we’re not here to play Nancy Drew, instead let’s recall on some of the accomplishments and experiences the young man had.

It’s 2009 and 16-year-old Tim Bergling (Avicii) is still in school producing his own music, but has no idea where to take it or how. He’s made a handful of remixes, but his work and name are little known in Sweden let alone worldwide.

Enter Ash Pournouri (At Night Management), who at the time was a promoter of electronic dance music, filling clubs and watching sets on the regular. He knew the underground scene, found a few of Bergling’s remixes on blogs and got excited. Being a fellow Swede, Pournouri wanted to help Bergling get somewhere in the music game so he sought out the teenager and asked to meet up to chat about partnering. Basically the Scooter Braun to Justin Bieber situation here.

According to Pournouri, Bergling showed up to the meeting with his friend because he was scared, but after talking the two decided to come together—Pournouri managing the business and promotions while Bergling was to remain focused solely on producing music.

The game plan: solidify Avicii as the remixer, then the artist, then the touring artist. Avicii, however, was not a DJ and had no experience behind the decks. He was a producer. So, Pournouri taught him how to DJ and the two began making moves from clubs to arenas, quick, questionably too quick (the ‘Levels Tour‘ was full on).

While “Seek Bromance” is one of his first tracks heard on a greater scale, it was 2011’s “Levels” that really brought the spotlight on the Swedish lad. Avicii ran with it and ended up performing around 300 gigs in 2011 and 2012.

The momentum continued. Avicii then collaborated with David Guetta on “Sunshine,” soon releasing hits like “Silhouettes” as well as “I Could be the One” with Nicky Romero. Then came the country-tinged, multi-platinum selling track, “Wake Me Up” as well as “Hey Brother”and “Addicted to You” all in 2013, helping make up his debut album, True, which dropped in September 2013. His videos were mainstream gold—championing the underdog, the lost soul, the outcast and the hopeless romantic in scenes filled with hilarity.

2014 saw the Grammy-nominated artist hospitalized unfortunately. He suffered health problems, including acute pancreatitis in part due to excessive drinking. Avicii ended up having his gallbladder and appendix removed, and canceled shows in order to recover. However, he still managed to make Coldplay cool again, co-writing and co-producing “A Sky Full of Stars” from their 2014 Ghost Stories record, which arguably helped nudge the group back on radio. He also worked with Wyclef Jean (“Divine Sorrow”) and again with Jean and Carlos Santana on “Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way),” the 2014 official FIFA World Cup anthem.

2015 saw his second album, Stories, released. It came with songs like “Broken Arrows,” featuring the vocals of Zach Brown from the Zach Brown Band, among others.

Over the years, Avicii landed deals with Ralph Lauren, Ericsson (and later with Coca-Cola), created a music driven gaming app, was the first electronic artist to headline at Radio City Music Hall and produced sets like this.

In 2016, Avicii announced he would be retiring from touring, and in December 2016 he parted ways with Ash Pournouri.

“To me it was something I had to do for my health,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, referring to his decision to quit touring. “The scene was not for me. It was not the shows and not the music. It was always the other stuff surrounding it that never came naturally to me. All the other parts of being an artist. I’m more of an introverted person in general. It was always very hard for me. I took on board too much negative energy, I think.”

2017 marked Avicii’s last official music packagee, Avīci (01), a six-track EP with collaborations from Rita Ora, AlunaGeorge, Billy Raffoul and Sandro Cavazza.

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He also released (although only briefly) the documentary Avicii: True Stories in October 2017. The film chronicles Bergling’s days on the road, his battle with alcohol and anxiety, his work with Coldplay, his relationship with Pournouri and the time spent in the hospital (where he worked from his bed). The documentary was written and produced by Bergling’s longtime friend and also visual creator, Levan Tsikurishvili. The doc features Avicii’s last concert as well.

“Everyone knows Avicii, but no one really knows who Tim was,” Tsikurishvili told Variety. It took the fellow Swede four years to collect 300 terabytes’ worth of footage, but “found that there was a story to tell.”

The documentary came to Netflix earlier this month but has since been removed.

During his career, Avicii won two MTV Music Awards, one Billboard Music Award and earned two Grammy nominations—one for “Sunshine” with David Guetta and the other for “Levels.”

Earlier this week, Bergling’s Avīci (01) was nominated for a Billboard Music Award in the top dance/electronic album category.

“It’s been a very crazy journey. I started producing when I was 16. I started touring when I was 18. From that point on, I just jumped into 100 percent,” Avicii said. “When I look back on my life, I think: whoa, did I do that? It was the best time of my life in a sense. It came with a price – a lot of stress a lot of anxiety for me – but it was the best journey of my life.”