Oliver Tree Nickell (born June 29, 1993) is an American singer, record producer, and comedian. Born in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...

, Tree signed to Atlantic Records in 2017 after his song "When I'm Down" went viral and released his debut studio album ''

Ugly Is Beautiful ''Ugly Is Beautiful'' is the debut major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter Oliver Tree. The album was originally scheduled for release on March 27, 2020 and delayed to June 12, 2020 through Atlantic Records, before being delayed aga ...

'' in 2020. He achieved international recognition with his songs " Life Goes On" in 2021, and " Miss You" in 2022. He released his second studio album ''

Cowboy Tears ''Cowboy Tears'' is the second major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter Oliver Tree. The album was released on February 18, 2022, through Atlantic Records. A deluxe edition, ''Cowboy Tears Drown the World in a Swimming Pool of Sorr ...

'' on February 18, 2022.

Early life

Oliver Tree Nickell was born on June 29, 1993, in

. He has said he took "piano lessons at three years old,

egan Egan may refer to: People * Egan (surname) * Egan (given name) Places in the United States * Egan, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Egan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community and census-designated place * Egan, South Dakota, a city * Eg ...

songwriting the next year, and adan album written by age six." Tree studied business at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

for two years.

Career

2010–2016: Early career and hiatus

Oliver launched his solo recording career as "Tree" in 2010. By then, he had made presentations for performances such as

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead si ...

and Zeds Dead. He initially self-released his music but signed with

R&S Records R&S Records is an independent record label founded in 1983 in Ghent, Belgium. R&S represents the initials of Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes, the couple that created the label. R&S Records has had several subsidiaries, most notably Apollo R ...

in 2011. He sang and played guitar in a

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band called Irony, which was his first experience performing. Under the pseudonym Kryph, Tree produced dubstep for a brief period of time and performed at festivals such as Wobbleland 2011 in San Francisco. He performed shows opening for acts such as

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

, and

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

, and released music under his pseudonym, Tree. At age 18, Tree signed up with London-based

and released his debut EP, ''Demons''. The EP gained some recognition after

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

lead singer

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

approved of his cover of their song "

Karma Police "Karma Police" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 25 August 1997, as the second single from their third studio album, ''OK Computer'' (1997). It reached number one in Iceland and number eight on the UK Singles Ch ...

". Tree eventually found himself on hiatus as he went back to school, studying music technology at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

2016–2018: Return to music and ''Alien Boy''

In November 2016, he returned to music with his television debut, performing with

Getter A getter is a deposit of reactive material that is placed inside a vacuum system to complete and maintain the vacuum. When gas molecules strike the getter material, they combine with it chemically or by . Thus the getter removes small amounts of ...

on ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''T ...

''. Shortly after the release of "When I'm Down", Tree signed to Atlantic Records, and a month later, graduated from the

. Tree often writes, acts, and directs sketches in comedy videos, and has worked with companies such as Fuck Jerry. In February 2018, Tree released his major-label debut EP, ''Alien Boy'', along with the double music video for "All That x Alien Boy". Tree wrote and directed the debut, which took over nine months to create. He spent five months practicing freestyle monster truck jumping at the

Perris Auto Speedway Perris Auto Speedway, also known as the PAS, is a 1/2 mile clay oval track located at 18700 Lake Perris Drive on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds in Perris, California. The track features a raised backstretch offering fans a better view over the infie ...

and performed all his stunts in the music video. Oliver Tree has played major festivals such as

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

and

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is a music festival held annually in San Francisco, California, at Golden Gate Park. The festival is produced by Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Presents, and Starr Hill Presents. It is the l ...

, and performed as a special guest at

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

and EDC, most notably at Coachella, where he was subsequently named on ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

''s "The Best (and Weirdest) Fashion at Coachella" list in 2017. He was the supporting act on

Louis the Child Louis the Child (893 – 20/24 September 911), sometimes called Louis III or Louis IV, was the king of East Francia from 899 until his death and was also recognized as king of Lotharingia after 900. He was the last East Frankish ruler of the Car ...

's 2017 Last to Leave Tour (2017) and

Skizzy Mars Myles Mills (born June 8, 1993), better known by his stage name Skizzy Mars, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Harlem, New York. Early life Mills was born and raised in Harlem, New York to his father, a therapist, and ...

' Are You OK? Tour (2018), and was scheduled to join Lil Dicky and

DJ Mustard Dijon Isaiah McFarlane (born June 5, 1990), known professionally as Mustard (also known as DJ Mustard), is an American record producer and beatmaker. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow California-bred artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; among var ...

on the Life Lessons Tour Fall 2018 before it was canceled. Tree toured North America and Europe with

Hobo Johnson Frank Lopes Jr. (born December 22, 1994), known professionally as Hobo Johnson, is an American vocalist and former frontman of Hobo Johnson & the LoveMakers. Early life Lopes is a Mexican/Portuguese Americans, Portuguese-American from Californ ...

in 2018.

2018–2020: ''Ugly Is Beautiful'' and singles

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Tree released singles that would make an appearance on his debut album, ''

''. On December 7, 2018, Tree released his second music video, "Hurt", a single from the album. He travelled to Ukraine to film the video, which he wrote and co-directed with Brendan Vaughan, an up-and-coming music video director. In the first week, the music video for "Hurt" reached one million views while the song received significant radio play. On April 11, 2019, Tree released a standalone single, "Fuck", with the music video being released on the same day. Oliver Tree Feb 2019 cropped

His fourth music video and single, "Miracle Man", was released on June 7, 2019, with the video reaching 1.3 million views on the first day of release. Tree released his second EP, '' Do You Feel Me?'' on August 2, 2019, to generally positive reviews. On December 6, 2019, Tree released "Cash Machine", a single accompanied by a music video. Together with the single, Tree announced his debut album, ''Ugly Is Beautiful,'' and announced that the album would be released on March 27, 2020''.'' On March 25, 2020, Tree posted a message to his Twitter page, stating that due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, ''Ugly Is Beautiful'' would not be released on time. However, on May 19, the album's official release date was revealed to be June 12. On May 16, 2020, Tree set the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the world's largest

kick scooter A kick scooter (also referred to as a push-scooter or scooter) is a human-powered street vehicle with a handlebar, deck, and wheels propelled by a rider pushing off the ground with their leg. Today the most common scooters are made of aluminum, ...

, which he later uploaded a video of himself riding on July 17, 2020. On June 8, 2020, Tree announced his decision to delay ''Ugly Is Beautiful'' yet again, this time to July 17. He stated that, because of the issues of racism and police violence against black people going on during that time after the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

, he "did not believe it was an appropriate time" to release the album when "much bigger things" deserved attention. On July 17, 2020, ''Ugly Is Beautiful'' was released.

2021–present: Deluxe version of ''Ugly Is Beautiful'' and ''Cowboy Tears''

Despite claiming that he was retired, he released the single "Out of Ordinary" on February 4, 2021, announcing the deluxe edition of ''Ugly Is Beautiful''. On May 28, 2021, Tree released a deluxe version of his debut album named '' Ugly Is Beautiful: Shorter, Thicker & Uglier.'' He would later collaborate with Russian rave band Little Big and release the single "Turn It Up", featuring

Tommy Cash Tommy Cash (born April 5, 1940) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. His elder brother was Johnny Cash. Biography Cash was born in Dyess, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of four sons and three daughters of Ray and Carrie (R ...

, from their collaborative EP ''Welcome to the Internet'', which was later released on September 30, 2021. On January 12, 2022, Tree released the single "Cowboys Don't Cry" from his second album ''

''. ''Cowboy Tears'' was released on February 18, 2022. On May 20, 2022, Tree released a single, "I Hate You" along with "Cowboys Don't Cry". He also announced a tour to accompany the album ''Cowboy Tears''.

Discography

Studio albums

Independent albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tree, Oliver 1993 births Living people People from Santa Cruz, California Musicians from Santa Cruz, California American alternative rock musicians American dance musicians Singers from California Comedians from California American sketch comedians Dance-pop musicians San Francisco State University alumni 21st-century American singers 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male singers