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He’s the suave, debonair artist whose contributions to the arts earned him the title Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017, “For distinguished service to the performing arts as a musician, songwriter, author, and actor, nationally and internationally, and as a major contributor to Australian music culture and heritage.”
Who is Nick Cave? Find out that and more below.
Who is Nick Cave?
Nick Caveis a well-known Australian musician, songwriter, and novelist whose career has spanned nearly half a century. With several singles, soundtracks, songwriting credits, and novels to his name, he has no shortage of skills he’s been able to show off over the years.
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When was Nick Cave Born?
Nick Cave’s birthdate is September 22, 1957.
As a September baby, Nick Cave’s Zodiac sign is Virgo. Common characteristics of a Virgo include being modest and shy while also being diligent, patient, and kind. They are also considered to be the most hard-working signs in the zodiac.
Where is Nick Cave From?
Nick Cave was born and raised in Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia.
Where Does Nick Cave Live?
Nick Cave has called many places home over the years. After leaving Australia in 1980, he spent short stints in London, Berlin, and São Paulo. He later moved to Brighton, England, in the early 2000s, where it is believed that he still resides.
Nick Cave’s Ethnicity
Nick Cave is of Australian descent.
How Tall is Nick Cave?
Nick Cave’s height is approximately 6 feet, 2 inches tall (1.9 meters).
How Much Does Nick Cave Weigh?
Nick Cave’s weight is around 167 pounds or 76 kilograms.
How Did Nick Cave Become Famous?
Nick Cave ultimately began making a name for himself as the leading man of the band’s Birthday Party (1973-1983) and the Bad Seeds (1984-present). It was during that time that he became known for his baritone vocals.
His music is known to be full of emotional intensity that hits on lyrics obsessing over religion, death, love, and violence.
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Nick Cave’s Parents
Nick Cave is one of three sons (one of four children overall) born to Dawn and Colin Cave.
Colin Cave worked as an English and math teacher and administrator at a local technical school in Australia. Dawn Cave was also in education, serving as the librarian at her son’s high school. With the literary background of his parents, Cave was introduced to many classics over the years, includingCrime and PunishmentandLolita.
Additionally, his father was responsible for organizing the first symposium on Ned Kelly, an Australian bushranger and outlaw.
Sadly, his father was killed in a car accident when Nick Cave was only 21 years old. He found out about the accident when his mother was bailing him out of a police station in St. Kilda, having been charged with burglary. He later said of the loss that his father “died at a point in my life when I was most confused. The loss of my father created in my life a vacuum, a space in which my words began to float and collect and find their purpose.”
Nick Cave’s Siblings
Nick Cave has three siblings. Nick Cave’s brothers, Tim and Peter, are older than him, having been born in 1952 and 1954, respectively.
Thanks to his older brothers, Nick Cave was introduced to progressive rock. In particular, the bands King Crimson,Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull.
Nick Cave’s sister, Julie, is the baby of the family. She was born in 1959.
Who is Nick Cave Married To?
Over the years, Nick Cave has had a number of relationships and marriages.
The first was his relationship with Australian singer-songwriter Anita Lane, with whom Cave performed in the Bad Seeds alongside Mick Harvey. They dated from 1977 to 1983.
A few years after their breakup, in 1990, Cave moved to São Paulo, Brazil. It was there that he met Viviane Carneiro, a Brazilian journalist. They divorced after six years of marriage.
Around the time of meeting Carneiro, Cave also had a brief romance with Beau Lazenby, with whom he fathered a child.
In the mid-1990s, Cave also briefly dated famed British singer PJ Harvey, and the pair recorded “Henry Lee” together. While brief, the romance is also said to inspire Nick Cave’s albumThe Boatman’s Call.
Cave’s final known relationship is with British model Susie Bick, whom he married in 1999 after two years of dating. The pair will celebrate 25 years of marriage this year.
Nick Cave’s Children
Nick Cave is the father of four children. Nick Cave’s son Jethro, his oldest, was born in 1991 and was the product of his brief relationship with Beau Lazenby. In fact, he never met his son until he was around seven or eight months old because he lived with his mother in Melbourne, Australia.
Ten days after Jethro was born, Nick Cave’s son Luke was born. Luke’s mother is Cave’s first wife, Viviane Carneiro.
Cave also has twin boys with his current wife, Susie Bick. Arthur and Earl Cave were born in 2000 in London.
How Many Children Has Nick Cave Lost?
Nick Cave has sadly lost two of his four children – Jethro in May 2022 at the age of 31 andArthur Cave on July 14, 2015, at the age of 15.
How Did Nick Cave Lose His Sons?
In the case of Jethro Cave’s death, the reasonings have never been disclosed by the family. However, it is known that he had mental health troubles prior to his death.
The loss of Nick Cave’s younger son, Arthur, was the result of a freak accident when he fell from a cliff at Ovingdean, near Brighton. He sadly died from his injuries. While it was ultimately ruled an accident, it was discovered during the autopsy that Arthur had taken LSD before he fell.
The 2016 documentary filmOne More Time with Feelingand the albumsSkeleton TreeandGhosteenare both inspired by the devastating loss.
Nick Cave’s Tattoos
Nick Cave is not free of ink, sporting a skull and crossbones tattoo with the name of his former girlfriend “Anita” on it.
The funny thing is, it seems he wouldn’t advise it for others, most likely because the relationship ultimately ended. He told a fan in November 2022, “I would advise against [getting a tattoo], which is why I think you should probably get one.”
According to the article byThe Line of Best Fit, Cave further said of his ink, “The tattoo is the least of my worries. It seems to be just one part of a general emerging calamity. Having said that, I feel a sweet and teary pang as I look at the tattoo – I see that the name Anita has blurred and become unreadable, and the skull, sagging and old now, looks deranged and contemptuous.
“Still, I’m happy to carry this remnant of my youth with me, not just as a reminder of two of the most beautiful people who walked the earth – Anita Lane, who passed away recently, and Tracy Pew, who died not too many years after that carefree day in Sydney,” Cave said. “But also that there was a time when I was both heroic and dumb enough to get a tattoo of a badly drawn skull with my girlfriend’s name on it.”
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How Rich is Nick Cave?
Nick Cave isn’t suffering for money, that’s for sure. Throughout his career, Nick Cave’s net worth has amassed more than $60 million thanks to his artistic endeavors and his four decades in the music business.
Is Nick Cave the Artist the Same as the Musician?
No.Nick Cave, the visual artist, is a different guy from the rocker Nick Cave, about whom this article is based.
Is Nick Cave Considered Goth?
For the most part, Nick Cave’s style of music would be best described as being murderous country or blues, but that hasn’t stopped many from attributing him to the goth label from time to time.
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Career
Following his nearly decade-long career with The Birthday Party, which included three studio albums, the self-titledThe Birthday Party(1980),Prayers on Fire(1981), andJunkyard(1982), Nick Cave went on to found Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 1984. The band, which he co-founded with multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist and vocalist Blixa Bargeld, is one that is still going strong to this day.
Going into their 40th year as a group, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have released 17 studio albums over the years, all the while continuing to create new sounds. In the early years, which could be considered post-punk, blues, and gothic rock, fans got such albums asFrom Her to Eternity(1984),The Firstborn is Dead(1985), andKicking Against the Pricks(1986).
As the years went on, their sound softened with albums likeThe Good Son(1990) andThe Boatman’s Call(1997).
As the band later transitioned into the late 2000s, which saw the departure of Mick Harvey, more of an electronic and ambient sound began to develop, as emphasized byPush the Sky Away(2013),Skeleton Tree(2016), andGhosteen(2019).
While Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds remain active, Cave is also still working with his other band, Grinderman, which he formed in 2006. The band has released two studio albums thus far, one in 2007 and one in 2010.
Music is not the only way Cave has stayed busy over the years. He is also made a name for himself as an accomplished writer, most notably for the award-winning novel “And the Ass Saw the Angel” (1989), which earned him the Book of the Year honor fromTime OutMagazine in 1990, and
He has also taken a step into acting, appearing in movies like20,000 Days on Earth(2014),One More Time with Feeling(2016), and, most recently,This Much I Know to Be True(2022).
It is clear that there is no stopping Nick Cave from whatever he may want to pursue in his career. Only time will tell which will come next.
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