Nathaniel O’Brien, best known for his time as a contestant on The X Factor, has died in a single-car crash on the Barrier Highway, near Burra, in South Australia.
As Adelaide Now reports, the 19-year-old had performed at the Burra Country Music Festival on Sunday morning and was set to perform at the Tea Tree Gully Hotel on Sunday night.
O’Brien was the sole occupant of the car when he crashed into a tree and died at the scene. Emergency services were called to the scene, just north of the Hanson township at about 11am.
O’Brien, who was a rising talent in the South Australian country scene, made it through to the top 24 on last year’s X Factor after passing the initial boot camp stage.
Veteran country music host Wally Sparrow told News Corp that Nathaniel was “an amazing talent”, adding, “It’s just so sad, I can’t believe it. He had the whole world ahead of him.”
“He had an amazing voice. He was an amazing talent and he won almost everything he went in.” Sparrow said the teen’s parents had “put a lot of time into country music”.
He said Danny and Karen O’Brien started Country Music SA and had organised the music festival where Nathaniel had performed in Burra, where they lived.
Police informed Nathaniel’s parents at the festival and the remainder of the event, including a set by his sister Tracey Rains, was cancelled.
Friends and fans of the singer paid tribute via social media, calling him “a beautiful soul” and “a young man who was kind and dedicated to his family and music”.
In 2012, Nathaniel won Adelaide’s Next Superstar at the Entertainment Centre theatre aged just 16. He was also nominated for two 2015 Australian Country Music People’s Choice Awards.
Major Crash Investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding the crash. The incident shut down the Barrier Hwy for several hours between the township of Hanson and Acacia Rd.
