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Oliver Tree, the American alternative singer and internet personality known for his signature bowl haircut and meme-driven persona, was killed Sunday morning when two helicopters collided mid-air over western Rio de Janeiro, leaving all six people aboard both aircraft dead.
A police source told AFP that Tree, 32, was listed on the manifest of one of the two helicopters that crashed in the suburb of Recreio dos Bandeirantes.
The collision sent one aircraft plummeting into the parking lot of an electric car dealership, igniting a fire that engulfed roughly 20 vehicles before firefighters brought it under control. Tree had been in Brazil as part of a world tour.
Police said formal identification of the victims had been delayed because the bodies were badly burned in the post-crash fire. According to the manifest shared with AFP, five people were aboard the helicopter carrying Tree, while the second aircraft was carrying only its pilot. There were no survivors from either craft.
Among the passengers traveling with Tree were a Brazilian music producer and an Argentine video director, as well as Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, widely known online by his handle "Gaspi." Brazilian authorities have opened an investigation to determine the cause of the mid-air collision.
Tree, born Oliver Tree Nickell in Santa Cruz, California, built an audience that straddled the line between pop music and internet culture.
Known for hits including "Life Goes On," "Miss You," and "Alien Boy," he had accumulated over 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with his most popular tracks streamed more than 700 million times in total.
His eclectic, genre-blending sound drew from alternative pop, hip-hop, and rock, while his deliberately absurdist public image, anchored by a retro bowl cut and outsize personality, made him a fixture of online fan communities.
Brazil's civil aviation authority and military investigators were dispatched to the crash site to collect evidence and assess the credentials of both aircraft and pilots. The cause of the collision remains undetermined. Tree had been active on social media in the days leading up to the crash, posting content from his time in Brazil. He was set to continue his tour with a European leg in the coming weeks.
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