Nick Cave spoke about the tragedy he has endured, having lost two sons in less than a decade.
In 2015, his 15-year-old son Arthur fell onto rocks near Brighton, East Sussex, after taking LSD.
The death of his 31-year-old son, Jethro, came less than seven years later. The drug-addicted son of legendary singer Nick Cave died in a cheap motel. The causes behind his death were not made public.
Nick Cave appeared on the show “Australian Story,” and when it came time to speak with the host, he reminded her that it had been exactly one year since Jethro’s death.
She immediately apologized for the timing of the interview, to which Nick Cave responded, “It’s not your fault. It’s just strange for me because it feels like we’re jumping straight into this topic.”
He then spoke about the death of his son Arthur, who jumped from a great height off a cliff near his home in Brighton, England, in 2015 after taking LSD for the first time.
“I understood exactly what happened to him because I had gone through it,” he said. He further explained that the tragedy he experienced made him reassess his views and think differently about his life.
“It’s a bit complicated, but after a loss, you either have to absorb it and live with it or rearrange yourself. The void that was left allowed me to see the world differently and be more compassionate towards a human, unpleasant situation,” he noted.
He added, “It made me connect more with people. I always had a religious temperament, even as a child, but I never needed it. I was addicted to drugs for decades. After Arthur’s death, instead of feeling anger towards things like religion and rejecting them, I felt that I began to move towards a religious life.”
Finally, he explained that under no circumstances would he want to return to the world of “rock ‘n’ roll.” “I’m not tempted to return to that lifestyle, nor to drugs or alcohol. My priorities have changed. I saw the foolishness of it all. I’m a father, I’m a husband, and I’m a person of this world. To me, these are more important than being an ‘artist’,” he said in conclusion.
