What is TikTok’s ‘indigo’ trend? Users bond over death of loved ones

TikTokers are gaining millions of views, and even more sympathy, from their ‘indigo’ trend videos where they share how the death of a loved one has impacted their lives.

One of TikTok’s latest trends to go viral is the ‘indigo’ trend. During users’ videos, they share the heartbreak they’ve experienced after the death of a significant person in their lives.

Before showing how the death has affected them, TikTokers share a video or photo of themselves with their loved ones before they’ve died.

While the first half of the viral videos are happy and full of memorable moments, the second part reveals the emptiness felt by their passing.

In each indigo trend video, the song ‘Indigo’ by Sam Barber, featuring Avery Anna, plays in the background. The lyrics that play are: “I used to shine like gold, now I’m all indigo.”

The color indigo, which is a combination of blue and purple, is often associated with introspection and justice — which both coincide with the feelings of death.

TikTokers gain millions of views for viral indigo trend 

In one viral video, TikTok user Kennedy Roseman shared how the death of her husband left her with unbearable heartbreak.

Roseman’s husband, Wyatt, died from stage 4 cancer. Since his death, Roseman has shared “grief” updates to her TikTok. “You were my better half,” she said about her husband.

TikTok user Eleven Ahmose shared the death of her 5-year-old son by partaking in the indigo trend. Ahmose’s son, Zeias-Wolf Gray-Badu, died in January 2024 after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

The boy underwent multiple brain surgeries to minimize the large tumor but died in the hospital after his brain began to bleed due to severe damage.

TikTok user Britain Dante Tomlin also went viral for her indigo video. “A part of my world turned permanently dark when Jacob left. When you lose someone unexpectedly it hurts differently,” she wrote about her husband’s death.

In her video, Tomlin and her two children could be seen smiling before their dad died. At the end of the clip, Tomlin and her kids were crying beside the casket that held their father.

Indigo trend videos aren’t the only viral clips to gain traction on TikTok at the moment, either. There’s also the ‘grape theory’ trend as well as the prank where users convince their families they were accepted into Harvard.