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Bergling, who used the stage name Avicii, shot
to international fame in 2011 with hit single "Levels" but
retired from touring in 2016 after suffering mental health and
other medical problems.
Previously known as Globen, Swedish for Globe, due to its
spherical shape, the indoor sports arena and concert venue
opened in 1989, the year of Avicii's birth. It is one of
Sweden's largest with a capacity of 16,000.
Avicii played one of his breakthrough concerts there.
"It was a milestone for him to play Globen," said Klas Bergling,
the DJ's father.
He told Reuters his son's story had opened up a discussion about
mental health, and he hoped the renaming of the concert venue
would further raise awareness about mental illness, especially
among young people.
In his short career, Avicii became one of the world's biggest
stars of electronic dance music. His track "Wake Me Up" has been
viewed on YouTube over 2 billion times, making it one of the
website's most popular music videos.
Andreas Sand, general manager of Stockholm Live, the company
that runs the arena, said COVID-19 had caused many people mental
health difficulties as well as devastating the live music
sector.
He said it was timely to rename it for Avicii just when the
music business and wider society were emerging from the worst of
the pandemic.
"Unfortunately, this is the perfect timing to launch this kind
of initiative," said Sand.
(Reporting by Colm Fulton, editing by Estelle Shirbon)
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