Oliver Tree’s mom, Christine Begin Nickell, broke her silence following her son’s tragic death at age 32.
“Our dear son Oliver, you made this world a better place,” Nickell wrote via Facebook on Thursday, June 18. “We are so proud of you. RIP ❤️💔❤️.”
Nickell also included a throwback photo of Tree holding a dog.
News broke on Sunday, June 14, that Tree (full name Oliver Tree Nickell) unexpectedly died after two helicopters collided in Rio de Janeiro. CNN Brazil reported that there were six fatalities and Tree’s name was on the list of passengers given to aviation authorities. Local authorities have yet to identify the bodies.
Us Weekly reached out to a representative for Tree for comment but did not immediately hear back.
“We express our deep sorrow for the six victims resulting from the accident involving two aircraft in the Southwest Zone of Rio de Janeiro,” the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro said in a post via X at the time. “In this moment of pain, I express my solidarity to the family members and friends of the victims of the tragedy.”
Tree was traveling in Brazil amid his world tour. The singer had a concert in São Paulo on June 6. He was scheduled to take the stage next on July 1 in Lisbon. His tour was set to continue through October 25, when he was expected to take the stage in Beijing.
After news broke of Tree’s death, a clip of the musician talking about his will resurfaced online. During an April appearance on “The Zach Sang Show” podcast, Tree declared that he was not leaving any of his wealth to his family when he passed away.
“I don’t believe that any of the wealth or the things that get made from it [a career] is mine. So when I die — I’ve set it up — my will is set up that when I pass, my family, no one’s going to get a penny.”
Tree also said he had no plans to leave money behind if he had a family of his own. (The “Life Goes On” singer was not married at the time of his death but was in a relationship with girlfriend Fiona Chernavskaya.)
“If I have a wife or kids or anything, [they’re] not getting a f***ing penny,” he continued. “I’ll get my kids through college. That’s the agreement. But there’s not going to be a silver spoon. They’re taken care of because my dad worked on some stuff in the 2000s. The idea is, when I die, all the money is going to go back to artists.”
Three days after the news of Tree’s death, Chernavskaya broke her silence.
“Thank you for all the kind words,” she wrote alongside a photo of her and Tree. “I appreciate every ounce of support at this time. There are so many who have been affected by his passing, please show them love too.”
Chernavskaya also shut down online speculation about the status of her and Tree’s relationship.
“And please have some respect for my privacy, we kept our relationship very intimate,” she continued. “What I really don’t need is to see gossip about other women that Oliver may have been seeing, we were monogamous. Right now I’m mourning my partner and best friend, anything else is unimportant. Please have some respect.”
