Alternative pop rock musician Oliver Tree died in a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 14. The “Alien Boy” singer was among six passengers killed when two helicopters collided midair and crashed in a car dealership parking lot. He was just 32 years old.
The Civil Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro is currently investigating the cause of the collision. While the bodies of the six victims have not yet been examined and identified, Tree’s name was listed on the flight manifest.
Prior to the crash, the singer-songwriter was on his world tour to promote his fourth studio album Love You Madly, Hate You Badly, released this April. He had just performed in São Paulo on June 6 and was next slated to play several concerts in Europe.
Here’s what we know about the late singer and his music career.
Who Was Oliver Tree?
Oliver Tree Nickell was born on June 29, 1993, in Santa Cruz, California. Growing up, Tree’s parents, Christine Marie Begin and Jesse Louis Nickell III, worked as traveling circus performers. For much of his childhood, he lived in a mobile home before his parents settled in Santa Cruz.
Tree took an interest in music at an early age, learning to play piano as a toddler. He soon took up guitar and began singing, joining a ska band called Irony in middle school. Tree later gravitated toward hip-hop and electronic music in high school and started working as a DJ.
The musician first launched his solo career in 2010, initially self-releasing music under the pseudonym Kryph before switching to his middle name Tree. In 2013, he signed to R&S Records and released his debut EP Demons, for which he gained attention for his cover of “Karma Police” by Radiohead.
After this initial success, Tree returned to school, studying business at San Francisco State University. After two years, he transferred to California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a degree in music technology in 2017.
It was around this time that he adopted his comedic persona, complete with his signature bowl cut and ’80s aesthetic, and started going by Oliver Tree. Signing with Atlantic Records, Tree released his first studio album Ugly Is Beautiful in 2020, which debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 chart. The track “Alien Boy” became one of his earliest breakout hits, followed by “Life Goes On,” off the deluxe edition of the record. The latter also became his first song to make it onto Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
After releasing his sophomore effort Cowboy Tears in 2022, Tree delivered 2023’s Alone in a Crowd, featuring the hit “Miss You” with Robin Schulz, which earned him a 2024 Brit Award nomination for International Song of the Year.
In April, however, he announced he was leaving Atlantic Records, claiming that it refused to release his latest album Love You Madly, Hate You Badly. “After making tens of millions of dollars over 8 years for Atlantic Records, they no longer want to support my art because I’m not making songs for TikTok,” Tree said in an Instagram reel. “I never got into this to make TikTok songs.” As a result, he released the record through his independent imprint Alien Boy Records.
When Did Oliver Tree Date Melanie Martinez?
Following his tragic death, Tree’s ex-girlfriend, singer Melanie Martinez, shared an emotional tribute to him. “I think everyone who knew him will look back at those moments of laughter and joy he so easily sparked,” she said in an Instagram Story. “His ability to lead creatively and take action while also maintaining a sense of childlike wonder and awe was so inspiring.”
Tree and Martinez dated from 2019 to 2020 but remained friends after their relationship ended. While their split was amicable, Martinez’s fans still criticized and harassed Tree online, though she urged them to stop. Tree later told Anthony Padilla in 2023 that the whole ordeal made him depressed.
“Rest in peace Oliver,” Martinez wrote in her memorial post. “I know you’re making the angels giggle.”
Did Oliver Tree Cut His Family Out of His Will?
Just two months before he died, Tree made a shocking comment about his last will and testament. Appearing on The Zach Sang Show podcast on April 24, the singer revealed that he did not intend to leave money to his family in his will, including any future children he might have had.
“I don’t believe that any of the wealth or the things that get made from it is mine. So when I die—I’ve set it up—my will is set up that when I pass, my family, no one’s going to get a penny,” he said. “I’ll get my kids through college. That’s the agreement. But there's not going to be a silver spoon… The idea is, when I die, all the money is going to go back to artists.”
Tree founded the philanthropic foundation Dr. Oliver’s Art Grants for Baby Geniuses to collect interest from his music to give it to emerging artists. “People will finally appreciate my stupid f---ing videos or my stupid f---ing songs,” he said. “That’s when people appreciate you, when you're not there anymore.”
Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
