Pete Tong: ‘Avicii’s death means we’ve lost one of the most talented artists of his generation’

Pete Tong delivered a strong opening address at International Music Summit (IMS) Ibiza in memory of Avicii.

Talking about the pressures of international touring, health and wellbeing, IMS co-founder Tong commented on the news of Avicii’s tragic passing in Oman last month (April).

“We’ve lost one of the most talented and successful artists of his generation,” Tong said about Avicii on the opening day of IMS. “He was the first to make music influenced by his peers and then join them within 12 months.

“It was all so soon, so young, he had no training, there was no introduction, there is no manual for this. He had never even had a proper job.”

Tong spoke about Luciano’s recent statement about addiction and rehab in the wake of Avicii’s death and the harrowing portrayal in Avicii’s tell-all biopic, True Stories.

“His death puts the spotlight firmly back on our industry,’ Tong continued. “Ten years ago when we started IMS, we talked about how electronic music was going to break America and take over the world. To a large extent those things happened and still are. But we weren’t supposed to die chasing the dream. This is a wakeup call.”

Rob McCallum is DJ Mag’s deputy digital editor. Follow him on Twitter here.