lit a candle 2 Sept 2026One of a kind
Lighting a candle from the States. Oliver meant a great deal to a lot of us here.
Their story
Oliver Tree Nickell was born in Santa Cruz, California, on 29 June 1993, and grew up to become one of American music's more unclassifiable figures: a singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer who seemed to delight in refusing to sit neatly in any one category. His path opened up in…
Oliver Tree Nickell was born in Santa Cruz, California, on 29 June 1993, and grew up to become one of American music's more unclassifiable figures: a singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer who seemed to delight in refusing to sit neatly in any one category.
His path opened up in 2017, when his song "When I'm Down" spread quickly online and led to a deal with Atlantic Records. Three years later, in July 2020, he released his first studio album, Ugly Is Beautiful. It carried the singles "Alien Boy", "Hurt", "Miracle Man" and "Let Me Down", all of which went on to earn gold and platinum certifications from the RIAA. Often described as a genre-defying musician, he found audiences well beyond the United States with "Life Goes On" in 2021 and "Miss You" the following year. More records followed: Cowboy Tears arrived in February 2022, Alone in a Crowd in September 2023, and Love You Madly Hate You Badly in April 2026.
On 30 May 2026 he set out on his first world tour, built around that fourth album. It was cut short on 14 June, when he was killed in a helicopter collision above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Police in Rio confirmed that Tree and five others died: Gaspi, Lucas A. Vignale, Lucas Frota and the two pilots. He was 32.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), retold in our own words. Wikipedia ↗
Photos
4El cantante estadounidense Oliver Tree en 2022.
by People Forever
Oliver Tree
by People Forever
Oliver Tree
by People Forever
Get to know Oliver Tree, the one-of-a-kind artist behind the album 'Alone In A Crowd'
by People Forever
This made me cry. Thank you.
Yes. This.