Born Oliver Tree Nickell on 29 June 1993 in Santa Cruz, California, Oliver Tree was raised by parents who worked in the circus, and spent most of his childhood travelling in a motor home.
It was during his time at high school that his love for music really kicked off. He learned how to DJ and became prominent in his local dubstep scene. In the early 2010s, he started releasing music under the name of Tree. However, this wouldn't stick around for too long, as he later came up with the more fitting stage name of Oliver Tree – a combination of his first and middle names.
From there, Oliver Tree would become a character: a turned-up version of himself famous for his Beatles-esque bowl cut, unique pink and purple windbreaker, and signature oversized jeans. In 2022, he changed up his character again to launch his cowboy era for his second album, ‘Cowboy Tears’. This time, he went full cowboy, sporting a big blue cowboy hat. His characters and styling were something that really defined him as an artist, by using them to tell stories through his music and mark the particular era he was in.
Outside of music, Oliver even held a Guinness World Records title, which he gained in 2020 for the largest kick scooter, which was an impressive 4.16 metres tall and 3.13 metres long. "Oliver chose to break this record to fulfil a life long dream".
Oliver was also very successful on TikTok, with over 20 million followers. As a comedy figure in some aspects, he used this to his advantage and combined music with comedy in a way that made him a truly unique musician.
Tree’s music spanned a range of different genres, including alternative rock, pop, and hip hop. In his music, he managed to combine all these different genres and make his own sound, before mixing that with comedy. His debut album, ‘Ugly Is Beautiful’, was released in 2020, in what was truly a genre-bending and unique first album. The collection of songs featured stand out tracks such as ‘Me, Myself & I’, ‘Cash Machine’, ‘Miracle Man’ and ‘Bury Me Alive’. In between his first and second albums, Tree teamed up with Estonian rapper and singer Tommy Cash and Russian rave band Little Big to create an EP based on the internet, entitled ‘Welcome To The Internet’, which was one of his most unique projects, combining rap, pop and techno.
Following on from his debut, he switched up his sound on his second studio album ‘Cowboy Tears’, which featured Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker as a producer on a few of the tracks. This album took on a sad country sound, mixing emo with country. It was certainly an interesting album that flew under the radar a little, but was definitely one to check out. Two highlights from his cowboy era were the emotional track ‘Cowboys Don’t Cry’ and ‘Swing & A Miss’.
Following on from his second album came 'Alone In A Crowd'. This time, he sported a new gimmick, with a bob haircut, sunglasses and a pink and blue puffer jacket. 'Alone In A Crowd' was a return to the singer's roots, with the songs ‘Bounce’ and ‘Elevator To The Sky’ being standouts from this album.
Almost three years later came his final album, 'Love You Madly Hate You Badly', released fully independently through his record label, Alien Boy Records, on 24 April 2026. Following on from this album, he was meant to embark on a massive tour, which he was marketing as the 'World's First World Tour'. Aiming to travel across all seven continents, he started the tour in Mexico in May, aiming to finish in October in Beijing, China.
He was also a frequent collaborator with other musicians, including the likes of rock icons Blink-182, Grandson, Tommy Cash, Little Big, Ty Dolla $ign, Trippie Redd and KSI. His most successful collaboration was ‘Miss You’ with Robin Schulz. The song went viral, reaching hundreds of millions of streams.
Following his tragic death last week, tributes poured out from the music world from the likes of Kid Cudi, Bebe Rexha, KSI, Robin Schulz and T-Pain. As well as tributes online, he has received tributes at gigs from Noah Kahan, Post Malone and Bring Me The Horizon.
His legacy, character and music are truly remarkable, and will continue to live on in people’s memories.
Jack Smith
Image: Oliver Tree ‘Ugly Is Beautiful’ Official Album Cover
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