Nick Cave’s Eldest Son, Jethro Lazenby, Dead at 31

Nick Cave’s son, Jethro Lazenby, has died at the age of 31. 

Cave confirmed his son’s death in a statement, although did not provide any cause of death. “With much sadness, I can confirm that my son, Jethro, has passed away,” the musician said. “We would be grateful for family privacy at this time.”

Lazenby died just days after he was released on bail from a Melbourne jail after admitting to attacking his mother, Beau Lazenby, last month. Upon his release, according to Metro, a judge ordered Lazenby to undergo substance abuse treatment and avoid contact with his mother for two years. The Independent also noted that at the time of his arrest in April, a representative for Lazenby said he’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia. 

Lazenby was previously jailed for assault in 2018 after attacking his girlfriend at the time.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1991, Lazenby largely worked as a model. He also took on a handful of acting roles under the name “Jethro Cave,” appearing in the 2007 movie Corroboree and 2011’s My Little Princess. 

In a 2012 interview with the Evening Standard, Lazenby noted his relationship with his father was strained at the beginning of his life (Lazenby was born 10 days before Cave’s second son, Luke, was born to his first wife, Viviane Carneiro, in Brazil). While Lazenby knew who his father was growing up, he said he didn’t actually meet Cave until he was “about seven, eight” years old. ‘It didn’t start off that great, having all this shit with my dad and being in his shadow,” Lazenby added. 

Cave has acknowledged the complicated nature of his relationship with Lazenby as well, saying in 2008: “It was a difficult time, but it turned out great in the end. To my eternal regret, I didn’t make much contact with Jethro in the early years, but I now have a great relationship with him.”

Lazenby’s death comes seven years after Cave’s 15-year-old son, Arthur Cave, died suddenly after falling off a cliff in Brighton, England.