Nick Cave‘s son, Jethro Lazenby, has died at the age of 31. The Bad Seeds frontman, 64, shared the tragic news on May 9. “With much sadness, I can confirm that my son, Jethro, has passed away. We would be grateful for family privacy at this time,” Nick said in a statement. He did not share his son’s cause of death.
Jethro was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1991 to Nick and Australian model Beau Lazenby. His half-brother Luke, who is Nick’s son with his first wife, Viviane Carniero, was born ten days after Jethro in Brazil. Get to know more about Jethro below.
1. Jethro was a model.
Jethro mostly worked as a model leading up to his passing. He reportedly modeled for Balenciaga, Versace, and Vogue. He was also photographed by Hedi Slimane, who is the creative and image director of Celine.
2. He also acted.
Beyond modeling, Jethro dipped his toes in acting for a bit. He appeared in two films: 2007’s Corroboree as “Little Joe,” and 2011’s My Little Princess as Updike, according to IMDb. The latter movie was a French-Romanian project that also starred Isabelle Huppert and Anamaria Vartolomei.
3. He was released from jail days before his death.
In April, Jethro was arrested in Melbourne for unlawful assault after he physically attacked his mother Beau in March, according to The Guardian. His lawyer allegedly said that Jethro was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Jethro was released from jail the weekend before his death. At the time of his release, a judge allegedly ordered Jethro to undergo substance abuse treatment and avoid contact with his mom for two years, per Metro.
Jethro was also previously jailed for assault back in 2018 after he allegedly attacked his girlfriend.
4. He had a strained relationship with his father.
Jethro was raised by his mother and didn’t meet his father until he was around 7 or 8 years old. “It didn’t start off that great, having all this shit with my dad and being in his shadow,” Jethro said in a a 2012 interview with the Evening Standard. Nick also previously admitted to having an estranged relationship with his son for several years. “It was a difficult time, but it turned out great in the end,” he told reporters in 2008. “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.”
5. His half-brother died.
Jethro’s death comes seven years after Nick’s 15-year-old son, Arthur Cave, died from falling off a cliff in Brighton, England on July 14, 2015. It’s been reported that Arthur took LSD before the incident. “Our son Arthur died on Tuesday evening,” Nick and his second wife, British model Susie Bick, said in a statement at the time, per Rolling Stone. “He was our beautiful, happy loving boy. We ask that we be given the privacy our family needs to grieve at this difficult time.” The impact of Arthur’s death on Nick was shown in the 2016 documentary One More Time with Feeling. Nick’s 16th studio album, Skeleton Tree, also explored his grief.