A music producer says a last-minute decision stopped him boarding a helicopter that crashed and killed alt-pop singer Oliver Tree and five others.
Tree, known for the hit singles Alien Boy and When I’m Down, was among the victims when two helicopters crashed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 14.
In a tribute post on his Instagram story, producer Victor Wao revealed he was meant to be on board one of the aircraft at the time of the tragedy.
He accompanied the post, shared by Page Six before it disappeared, with an image of his friend Tree and producer Lucas Frota, who also died in the crash.
“I was supposed to be with you guys in that helicopter, but I missed it at the last second,” Wao wrote, in the post translated from Portuguese.
“You told me that since I was scared, you had arranged for a car to take me to Angra and that someone else would go in my place. Now I owe you my life, brother.”
In a separate post on his Instagram account, Wao described Frota as being the “BEST FRIEND I COULD ASK GOD FOR!”
Alongside Frota, also known as Lucas Brito Chaves, the other victims were passengers Lucas Vignale and Gaspar Prim Díaz and pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac, CNN Brasil reported.
A day before his death, 32 year-old Tree posted a video on Instagram sharing his experiences in Brazil, including riding a motorbike and celebrating with a trophy after scoring a goal in soccer.
Tree, who was born in Santa Cruz, had recently released his fourth studio album, Love You Madly Hate You Badly, in April this year.
In early May, Tree announced The World’s First World Tour, which kicked off towards the end of the month. His final performance took place in São Paulo on June 6.
Earlier in the year, Tree suggested on The Zach Sang Show that his family would not receive any money from his will in the event of his death.
“I don’t believe that any of the wealth, or the things that get made from it, is mine,” he said. “So when I die, my will is set up that when I pass, my family, no one’s going to get a penny.”
Tree went on to say that he would support his children through college but that in the event of his death “all the money is going to go back to artists.”
