‘Life Goes On’ singer Oliver Tree dies in Brazil helicopter crash at age 32

Musician and comedian Oliver Tree was among six killed Sunday in a fiery midair crash between two helicopters in Brazil.

The singer-songwriter was 32.

The two choppers, one carrying Tree and four others, and the second one carrying just a pilot, collided over Rio de Janiero and plummeted to the ground, according to local officials and media. One hit an electric-car dealership on Avenida das Americas, setting at least 20 vehicles on fire, the Rio de Janeiro Military Fire Department said, according to CNN Brasil. The other fell onto Avenida das Americas. The force of the impact scattered aircraft parts and other debris hundreds of meters, local news outlet Metropolis noted.

Tree was on the passenger list, though local authorities said the bodies had yet to be formally identified. Their bodies were taken to the Afrânio Peixoto Forensic Medical Institute, CNN Brasil reported. Also killed were prominent Argentinian YouTuber Gaspar Prim, “Gaspi” to his 7.5 million social media followers; passengers Lucas Vignale and Lucas Brito Chaves, and pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.

Chaves, initially from Brazil, produced electronic house music from his current base in Miami and had been traveling with the “Life Goes On” singer in recent days. Souza was ferrying the four passengers, and Marsillac was flying solo in the second helicopter, according to CNN Brasil.

One helicopter had left the Santos Dumon Airport in the center of Rio de Janeiro and was en route to Guaratiba Heliport to the west, CNN Brasil reported. The other was headed to Angra dos Reis, on the state’s Green Coast, from Jacarepaguá Airport.

The crash is under investigation, Brazilian authorities said.

Tree had just performed in São Paulo on Jun 6 and was next due in Lisbon on July 1. He was on a world tour to celebrate his latest album, “Love You Madly Hate You Badly,” released April 24. The tour was slated to take him to the U.S. for most of August, including an Aug. 5 performance at Terminal 5 in New York City.

Oliver Tree Nickell was born June 29, 1993, in Santa Cruz, California, the San Francisco Chronicle noted. His first brush with fame came in 2010 at age 17, when he worked with Skrillex and Zeds Dead, calling himself Tree, according to TMZ. After releasing an independent album in 2013, he peeled off to study music technology, TMZ said. He signed with Atlantic Records in 2017. Tree’s 2020 album “Ugly Is Beautiful” was followed by “Cowboy Tears” and “Alone in a Crowd.”

Tree was known for mixing alternative pop, electronic music and comedy, sporting a bowl-mullet haircut and making oversized, 1980s-style fashion choices. He had a combined following of nearly 10 million on YouTube and Instagram. His other hits included “Alien Boy,” “When I’m Down,” and “Miss You.”

With News Wire Services