Nick Cave announces death of son Jethro Lazenby, aged 31

The Australian singer confirmed the news on Tuesday and asked for privacy for the family

Australian rock musician Nick Cave confirmed the death of his son Jethro Lazenby on Tuesday. AP Photo

Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave has announced the death of his son Jethro Lazenby, aged 31.

“With much sadness, I can confirm that my son, Jethro, has passed away,” the frontman of rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We would be grateful for family privacy at this time,” Cave said.

Fashion model, rapper, actor and photographer Lazenby was born in Melbourne in 1991, and was Cave’s son with model Beau Lazenby.

He was the eldest of Cave's four children, all boys.

One of Cave’s twin sons with his current wife Susie Cave died in a fall from a cliff near Brighton, England, in 2015. Arthur Cave had taken the psychedelic drug LSD before the accident.

Jethro Lazenby, who used the name Jethro Cave to help his modelling career, died in Melbourne after he was released from prison last week. Details of his death have not been revealed.

He had been in custody after he assaulted his mother during an argument in her Melbourne home on March 7 and left her bruised and bleeding, Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper reported.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful assault and to breaching court orders. He was released from a remand prison on strict bail conditions on Thursday, the newspaper reported.

A magistrate ordered him to undergo substance abuse treatment and to avoid contact with his mother for two years. He was to return to court in June to be sentenced for the assault and for stealing from a convenience store.

He had been jailed in 2018 for assaulting a girlfriend.

His lawyer told a magistrate last month that his client had a long-standing diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Lazenby told the London-based Evening Standard newspaper in 2012 that he was 7 or 8 when he first met his famous father. Cave told Britain’s The Guardian newspaper in 2008 he would always regret his lack of contact with his son in early childhood.

“But I now have a great relationship with him,” Cave said. “It was difficult at the time, but it turned out great in the end.”

Lazenby is survived by a younger half-brother Luke Cave, who was also born in 1991. The musician’s second child, only days younger than his first, was born in Brazil to his wife at the time, Viviane Carneiro, a Brazilian fashion designer and journalist.

Lazenby is also survived by half-brother Earl Cave, Arthur’s twin. The twins were born in 2000.