Oliver Tree, 32, Killed in Midair Helicopter Collision Over Rio de Janeiro on June 14

What Happened

On the morning of June 14, 2026, two helicopters collided midair over Recreio dos Bandeirantes, a western suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Both aircraft went down in the parking lot of an electric car dealership, igniting a fire that burned roughly 20 vehicles before firefighters extinguished it, according to CBS News and The Guardian.

All six people across both helicopters died. No survivors.

One helicopter carried five passengers: Oliver Tree and four others, including a Brazilian music producer, an Argentine video director, and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known online as Gaspi, according to The Guardian. The second helicopter carried only its pilot.

Eyewitness Fernandes de Freitas, a tire repair worker at the scene, told CBS News he saw one aircraft in flames after the collision and watched a passenger jump from the other helicopter before it hit the ground. "It was terrifying, absolutely horrifying," De Freitas said.

Who Oliver Tree Was

Oliver Tree Nickell was born June 29, 1993, in Santa Cruz, California. His parents were traveling circus performers, and he spent much of his childhood in a mobile home before the family settled in Santa Cruz, according to Biography.com.

He started piano as a toddler, picked up guitar, played in a middle school ska band, and eventually gravitated toward hip-hop and electronic music. He launched a solo career in 2010 under a pseudonym, then signed to R&S Records in 2013. He later transferred to the California Institute of the Arts and graduated in 2017 with a degree in music technology.

His commercial breakthrough came with the 2020 Atlantic Records debut Ugly Is Beautiful, which debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200. "Alien Boy" and "Life Goes On" were his early signature tracks. "Life Goes On" alone has been featured in more than 3.7 million TikTok videos since its 2021 release, according to Variety as cited by CBS News.

In 2024, Tree received a Brit Award nomination for International Song alongside German producer Robin Schulz for their collaboration "Miss You," which peaked at No. 3 on the UK singles chart, according to The Guardian. He had more than 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with his top songs streamed more than 700 million times combined.

He was 32 years old.

The Tour He Was On

Tree was in South America promoting Love You Madly, Hate You Badly, his fourth studio album, released in April 2026, according to Biography.com. He performed in Buenos Aires on June 4 and in São Paulo on June 6. The day before the crash, he posted a video on Instagram of himself playing soccer in a Brazilian neighborhood.

He had been scheduled to perform in Lisbon on July 1, with European dates continuing through September, including Glasgow, Manchester, and London, according to the BBC. His world tour had been planned across more than 70 shows in 30 countries on seven continents.

Investigation and Aftermath

Rio de Janeiro's Civil Police confirmed an investigation into the cause of the collision was underway as of the time of reporting, according to CBS News and The Guardian. The bodies were badly burned in the crash, which initially prevented formal identification; Tree's name was confirmed through the passenger manifest provided to aviation authorities.

Tree's body was subsequently returned to California. An Instagram post published to his account stated that "he can finally rest" and announced that his family intends to honor a wish he had written into his will: the creation of a foundation called Dr. Oliver Tree's Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses, according to the BBC. "This is something that Oliver had put together before his passing, written in his will. We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world," the statement read.

The Open Question

No cause for the midair collision has been established publicly as of June 22, 2026. Rio de Janeiro aviation authorities have not announced findings, and no timeline for the investigation's conclusion has been reported by any of the four sources covering this story. The determination will affect aviation safety oversight in one of South America's busiest metropolitan airspaces.