What Oliver Tree’s Reported Death Teaches Us About Not Waiting to Become Ourselves

There is something especially unsettling about the death of a young artist. It is not because death is ever easy to understand. It is because youth gives us the illusion of time. We assume there will be another tour, another album, another reinvention, another eccentric music video, and another opportunity to understand what the artist was trying to create. We assume the story is still somewhere in the middle. Oliver Tree’s death at only 32 interrupts that assumption. Even if you were not a devoted listener, his presence was difficult to miss. He was strange, theatrical, funny, exaggerated, and completely recognizable. He did not simply release music. He created an entire world around it. Building an Unmistakable World Oliver Tree understood the power of a strong visual identity. There was the unmistakable bowl-cut hairstyle, sometimes shaped so perfectly that it appeared almost artificial. There were the oversized jackets, enormous pants, bright colors, strange eyewear, and outfits…