Oliver Tree, the eccentric California-born musician known for his bowl-cut hair and genre-blending sound, is dead at 30. Sources confirm he died this afternoon when the helicopter he was travelling in crashed in a remote region of Brazil. The aircraft, a Bell 429 registered to a shell company in the Cayman Islands, went down near the city of Manaus. Two other passengers and the pilot were also killed. Emergency services arrived at the scene within 20 minutes, but no survivors were found. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Tree, whose real name was Oliver Tree Nickell, had been in Brazil for a series of unannounced performances. He was last seen boarding the helicopter at a private airfield outside São Paulo. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion before the aircraft disappeared from radar. Brazilian authorities have recovered the flight data recorder and are analysing the wreckage.
Tree's label, Atlantic Records, issued a brief statement: "We are devastated by the tragic loss of Oliver Tree. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones." But sources close to the investigation tell me that the company that owns the helicopter, a logistics firm called Transamazon Holdings, has ties to a notorious money-laundering operation. I have seen documents linking Transamazon to a Brazilian real estate developer currently under investigation for bribery. The shell company ownership, the sudden flight path deviation: it all reeks of a story that goes deeper than a simple accident.
Tree's career was on the rise. His 2018 album Ugly is Beautiful sold half a million copies in the US alone. He was a cult figure whose live shows were chaotic performances of punk and electronic music. But in the months before his death, he had become increasingly vocal about corruption in the music industry. He told Rolling Stone in a recent interview: "The people running the show are crooks. They'll feed you to the wolves if it means another dollar." Was he silenced? I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I follow the money. And the money here is dirty.
The Federal Police of Brazil have not ruled out any possibilities. Investigators are looking into whether the helicopter was tampered with. The pilot, identified as Carlos Mendez, had a clean licence but a history of debt. The passengers: a local promoter named Luiz Silva and a woman identified only as Maria Santos. Their backgrounds are being checked.
This is a developing story. I have sources inside the investigation who tell me that the flight path was unusual. The helicopter was supposed to land at a private ranch, but it went off course. That will be the focus of the inquiry. As for Oliver Tree, the music world loses a voice that was just getting started. But in this business, the bodies pile up faster than the hits. I'll be reporting more as it comes.
For now, we have a dead musician, a crashed helicopter, and a paper trail leading to a shell company. That is where the real headlines are.
