Oliver Tree’s family is honoring his “final wish” to start a foundation dedicated to helping up-and-coming artists.
The family announced the plans for the foundation, called Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses, in an Instagram post on Sunday, one week after the singer was killed in a helicopter crash in Brazil.
“Oliver is now back in California where he can finally rest,” the post read. “His legacy will live on through his foundation/endowment named “Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses coming soon.”
The family said Tree wrote the plans for the organization in his will before his death on June 14.
“We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world, that was his final wish,” the family added.
They also thanked “everyone who has reached out, shown love, support and has done incredible tributes for Oliver,” noting the “constant love, support and positivity” has helped Tree’s loved ones cope with the tragedy.
“Love you all so much, Oliver would be so proud of every one of his supporters, friends and family,” the post also read. “Peace be with Oliver.”
Two months before his death, Tree spoke about his will when he vowed not to leave any money to his family after his passing
“I don’t believe that any of the wealth, or the things that get made from it, is mine,” he said on the April 24 episode of the “Zach Sang Show.”
“So when I die, my will is set up that when I pass, my family, no one’s going to get a penny,” he added before insisting that if he had “a wife or kids or anything, [they’re] not getting a f–king penny.”
Instead, Tree said he wanted his money to go toward “the physical making of art” rather than education after setting up a foundation to collect the interest from his music.
“You’re not allowed to buy equipment with the money. You’re not allowed to go get education and schooling with the money,” he said. “You have to physically hire people to physically produce stuff — and you’re allowed to rent equipment to make things.
“I have basically a committee that I’ve set up when I pass — and I plan to do it while I’m alive — where basically everyone will vote on who the money goes to each year.”
His surviving loved ones include his mom, Christine Begin Nickell, who said the late singer “made this world a better place” in her heartbreaking tribute to her son.
Tree was one of six casualties when two helicopters crashed in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, in the southwest zone of Rio de Janeiro, last Sunday. He was 32.
