Rita Ora performs ‘Lonely Together’ for first time since Avicii’s death

I haven’t sang his song that we did together ever since he passed away until today… He was one of my dearest friends.

Not often do performers show their emotional side when on stage, yet for Rita Ora it was understandably not something she could hold in. Speaking at Dutch festival Kingsday, the British singer encouraged the cooperation of the attendees to join her paying respect to the late Tim Bergling, more widely known as Avicii, who passed away less than two weeks ago. The above quote is taken from the following video, in which Rita Ora holds a one minute silence prior to the performance of her collaboration with Avicii, titled ‘Lonely Together’. The video also shows an emotional Hardwell paying his respects to his friend and colleague.

Following the silence, the singer proceeded to perform the track, which she had stated would be “very hard for (her) to sing”. Performing with energy and emotion, the singer showed what the track means to her. The collaboration itself was an “honour”, and the impact that Avicii had on the performer “changed her life”, as Rita states before her performance. Accompanied on stage by dancers, Rita Ora displayed her undeniable love and passion for the track, which was the final release by Bergling before his tragic death.

The track, released late last year, reached number 3 in his native Sweden and number 4 in the UK Official Charts, continuing the success that he developed such a prestigious name for. Whilst the death of Avicii was a huge shock to the world of music, tributes and performances by friends, collaborators and musicians show the impact and ability that the Swede had. Rita Ora personally states how much Bergling affected her, and the emotion in this touching performance is a fitting send off from not only one artist to another, but most importantly from a dear friend of the young producer.

Watch Rita Ora’s emotional performance of Lonely Together: