Oliver Tree, the singer-songwriter behind the viral hits "Miss You" and "Life Goes On," died in a helicopter crash in Brazil on Tuesday morning. He was 32.
Tree was one of six people killed when the aircraft went down. Brazilian authorities are investigating the incident.
Born Oliver Wald Schultz in Santa Cruz, California, Tree rose to prominence in the late 2010s with his distinctive blend of emo-inflected pop and experimental production. His 2017 single "When I'm Down" gained traction on streaming platforms, but "Miss You" became his breakthrough moment, accumulating hundreds of millions of streams and establishing him as a fixture of Gen Z pop culture. The song's melancholic hook and lo-fi aesthetic resonated with younger audiences navigating digital-age loneliness.
Tree released two studio albums. "Ugly Is Beautiful" arrived in 2020 on Atlantic Records, followed by "Don't @ Me" in 2023. Beyond his recorded work, he cultivated a provocative public persona, deploying surreal music videos and stage antics that blurred the line between earnest artistry and deliberate provocation. His music videos, often directed by collaborators like Tyler, the Creator's circle, became as talked-about as the songs themselves.
The artist collaborated with major producers and maintained an active touring schedule despite health complications he discussed publicly. His ability to monetize vulnerability and aesthetic peculiarity through platforms like TikTok marked him as emblematic of streaming-era artist development, where viral moments could catapult songs into mainstream consciousness without traditional radio support.
Tree's death removes another young voice from a generation shaped by bedroom pop production and internet-native aesthetics. His influence on the sound and visual language of contemporary pop remains evident in countless TikTok creators and emerging artists who adopted his template of sincere emotion filtered through electronic distortion and ironic distance.