Oliver Tree, the 32-year-old alternative-pop musician and producer born in Santa Cruz, was killed Sunday morning in a mid-air helicopter collision in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Preliminary reports indicate the accident involved two helicopters over the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood and resulted in six fatalities.
Five of the victims were traveling aboard one aircraft, while the second helicopter carried only its pilot. Following the collision, at least one of the helicopters crashed into a car dealership parking lot, sparking a fire that consumed several parked electric vehicles, detailed by LiveNOW Fox.
The artist was accompanied by several other creators who also died in the crash. The passenger list included Argentinian YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known online as Gaspi, independent director Lucas Vignale, and DJ Lucas Brito Chaves, with Stereogum confirming the identities alongside early tributes from collaborators like Subtronics, who called Tree a visionary artist.
Tree was traveling through South America on a global headline tour and had just finished a performance in São Paulo over the weekend. The tour followed the April 2026 release of his fourth studio album, Love You Madly, Hate You Badly. Known for his bowl cut and highly theatrical music videos, Tree broke into the mainstream with hits like his 2021 track “Life Goes On” and accumulated over 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
His work in the electronic and pop spaces led to major collaborations throughout his career. DJ Robin Schulz, who worked with Tree on the track “Miss You,” posted a tribute on social media calling their collaboration an honor, a reaction verified by the Los Angeles Times alongside confirmation of Tree’s Santa Cruz origins and his recent tour schedule.