Brisbane music fans are reeling after pop star Oliver Tree was killed in a helicopter collision in Brazil on Sunday, 14 June, just months before he was due to take the stage at Fortitude Music Hall this October.
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Tree, 32, was among six people killed when two helicopters collided in the skies above Recreio dos Bandeirantes, a beachside suburb in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro. Fans and fellow artists have been paying tribute on social media since news of the crash broke.
The Brisbane show at Fortitude Music Hall on 2 October was set to kick off the local leg of his tour, followed by dates in Melbourne, Auckland, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth through October.
Singer Melanie Martinez, who dated Tree in 2020, publicly mourned his loss in a statement, describing herself as “an absolute wreck” over news of the crash and saying she was heartbroken at losing someone she “once shared such a specific and formative time” of her life with.
Ryan Tedder, frontman of OneRepublic, also paid tribute. “RIP brotha love u and ur music u will be missed,” he wrote under Tree’s final Instagram post. Travel vlogger Drew Binsky added: “Rest in heaven my dear friend.” The post, published just one day before the crash, showed Tree sharing highlights from his time in Brazil with his Instagram followers.
Who was Oliver Tree?
Born Oliver Tree Nickell in Santa Cruz, California, Tree built his following on Vine in 2016, crafting an alter ego defined by a bowl cut and oversized clothing. He was known for blending alt-pop, electronic, and punk with an eccentric visual identity. His song “Miss You” became a double platinum hit in Australia, reaching number four on the ARIA charts.
He released four studio albums during his career, the most recent being “Love You Madly, Hate You Badly,” which came out independently in April 2026 after Tree departed Atlantic Records to release it through his own label, Alien Boy Records.
His world tour, spanning more than 70 dates across 30 countries, had kicked off on 30 May in Mexico City. Tree had performed in São Paulo on 6 June and had been posting content from Brazil as recently as the day before the crash, including a video of him playing soccer in a local neighbourhood.
The crash
Rio de Janeiro’s Civil Police identified the victims as Tree, passengers Lucas Brito Chaves and Lucas Vignale, Argentine content creator Gaspar Prim (known online as Gaspi), and the two pilots, Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac. Five people were aboard one helicopter, while the second was carrying only its pilot.
One of the helicopters came down in the car park of a dealership rented by Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, setting fire to around 20 cars parked on the site. The blaze was brought under control within approximately an hour. Brazil’s Air Force said investigators had been deployed to open a formal inquiry into the cause of the collision.
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No official refund information had been announced at the time of publication. Fans are advised to monitor Ticketmaster and Ticketek for updates.
Published 15-June-2026
