Nick Cave Reflects on How Work Helped Him After the Loss of His Two Sons

Nick Cave Reflects on Loss

Nick Cave once again discussed the tragic deaths of his two sons, acknowledging that their passing compelled him to understand that his work was not “the main and ultimate goal of everything.”

Impact of Personal Tragedy

His 15-year-old son, Arthur Kave, unexpectedly died in July 2015. Arthur was one of the twin sons Cave had with his wife, Suzi Bick, who died after falling from a cliff near Brighton.

In 2022, Cave confirmed the death of his eldest son, Jetro Lezenby, at the age of 31, following a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

The frontman of The Bad Seeds previously shared how these experiences shaped his personal and professional life, leading him to regard his art with less reverence. “The notion that art surpasses everything no longer applies to me,” he reflected last year. “Rather than upsetting me, it had the opposite effect. It connected me more deeply with people in general.”

In a recent interview with BBC Radio 4 discs with uninhabited island, he reiterated this sentiment.

He stated: “This is very much connected to Arthur and Jetro… I always believed that art was, ultimately, everything. It’s hard to admit, but it was always reliable.”

Cave revealed earlier to Avs Australia that “for most of my life, I trembled before my genius, spending my days in an office, writing, while everything else in my life seemed secondary.”

He expressed, “That notion completely crumbled; I became acutely aware of its foolishness, a shameful indulgence in my weaknesses.”

Making similar remarks in his last interview, he noted, “After Arthur’s death, I simply closed my office and didn’t go back. It pushed me away in some way—it felt so condescending.”

He added that while he continues to work “very, very hard,” it is no longer his “main and ultimate goal of everything.”

Cave elaborated, “I recognize my responsibilities to my children and wife; being a citizen and a husband serves as a genuine revitalizing force or should be the reviving force of my work.”

He also mentioned that his greatest joy comes “from my family and my wife, who is part of my family, and it’s hard to overstate how beautiful it is that I have a little grandson who is about seven months old.”

The Bad Seeds frontman previously admitted that he regrets recording his album “Skeleton Tree” in 2016, shortly after Arthur’s death.

In a separate interview with The Times last year, Cave reflected: “This is the only album that intensified my struggles. My mental health deteriorated because I recorded it just after my son’s passing; I shouldn’t have done it.”

He recently defended one of his lyrics written in tribute to Anita Lane, a former partner and member of The Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 61.