A resurfaced interview clip of Oliver Tree is going viral after his unexpected death.
The musician, whose legal name was Oliver Tree Nickell, died at the age of 32 on Sunday, June 14 following a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In an April appearance on the Zach Sang Show podcast back in April, Tree revealed that he planned to donate all his money after he died.
“I don’t believe that any of the wealth or the things that get made from [music] is mine,” Tree said. “And so when I die, my will is set up that when I pass, my family, no one’s gonna get a penny. If I have a wife or kids or anything, they’re not getting a f—ing penny. I’ll get my kids through college—that’s the agreement—but they’re not gonna be a silver spoon. They’re taken care of, because my dad worked on some stuff in the 2000s.”
Tree then said his plan was to redirect his money toward supporting artists through his foundation, the Dr. Oliver Trees Art Grants for Baby Geniuses.
“It’s set up so that basically the interest generated from my music will take mostly that,” he said. “But there’s also room for other money, because when I die, my art will continue to have residuals and probably be worth more than it is now. People will finally appreciate my stupid f—ing videos and my stupid f—ing songs. That’s when people appreciate you, when you’re not there anymore.”
“I want it to go to the actual physical making of art,” he continued. “You’re allowed to physically hire people to help produce stuff, you’re allowed to rent gear and equipment to make things. You’re allowed to use the budget to physically produce stuff. But that’s the belief for me. And I have a basically a committee that I’ve set up when I pass it—and I plan to do it while I’m alive—where basically everyone will vote on who the money goes to each year, and a few different people, and it will be in the spirit of the Oliver Tree Project. So collaborators I made music or film or art with when I was alive will get to make the decision of where the money goes.”
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Tree was best known for his hit songs like “Life Goes On” and “Miss You.” His 2020 album Ugly Is Beautiful reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts, and he received Kids’ Choice Award nominations for Favorite Social Music Star in both 2022 and 2023.
Tree is survived by his parents, Jesse Louis Nickell III and Christine Marie Begin, and older brother Caleb.