Nick Cave loses a second son as eldest is found dead after jail spell
NICK CAVE’S son has been found dead days after being released from prison, in a second family tragedy seven years on from his 15-year-old son falling to his death from a cliff in Brighton.
Jethro Lazenby, Mr Cave’s eldest son, died in Australia after being released from prison for assaulting his mother, Beau Lazenby, who the musician dated in the early 1990s.
Lazenby, 31, assaulted his mother on March 7 at her home in Collingwood, Melbourne, where he lunged at her and kneed her in the face over an argument about buying him cigarettes, according to Australian news reports.
Mr Cave announced his son’s death yesterday, telling fans: “With much sadness, I can confirm that my son, Jethro, has passed away.
“We would be grateful for family privacy at this time.”
The cause of death has not been confirmed.
The news follows the death of another of Mr Cave’s sons, Arthur, in July 2015 after he fell from a cliff at Ovingdean, near Brighton.
The teenager, who was the son of Mr Cave and his current wife, Susie Bick, plunged 60ft to his death after taking the hallucinogenic drug LSD, an inquest later heard.
His death prompted the musician to write the song Heart That Kills You and move his family from their Brighton home to LA, describing the UK as “too sad”.
“The words of the song go someway toward articulating why Susie and I moved from Brighton to LA,” Mr Cave explained. “Brighton had just become too sad.
“We did, however, return once we realised that, regardless of where we lived, we just took our sadness with us.
“These days, though, we spend much of our time in London, in a tiny, secret, pink house, where we are mostly happy.”
Mr Cave has two remaining sons, Luke, who was born in the same year as Lazenby but to a different mother, and Earl, a twin to Arthur.
Lazenby, a model who also did some acting and later became a photographer, was born in Melbourne in 1991 and only learnt that the singer/songwriter was his father at the age of eight.
His death follows years of turmoil, including being jailed in 2018 for attacking his then-girlfriend, and the assault on his mother.
In a recent court appearance, the police prosecutor told the court that the 31-year-old left his mother bloody and bruised from the attack.
“While standing in front of the victim the accused has then reached forward and grabbed both the victim’s shoulders with his hands,” the prosecutor said.
“He lunged forward and kneed the victim to the face and nose, causing bleeding and bruising.”
Lawyers representing Lazenby argued that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, which had affected his judgment. He was arrested a short time after the incident and later pleaded guilty to one count of assault.
Lazenby remained in custody until he was released on bail from Melbourne Remand Centre last Thursday after a magistrate instructed that he must undergo substance abuse treatment and avoid contact with his mother for the next two years.
During the hearing at a Melbourne magistrates’ court – which Lazenby attended via a video link from the prison – magistrate Donna Bakos told him: “I do say to you that it is entirely in your best interests to participate with all support services that I have set up for you.”