Andrew Lloyd Webber's eldest son Nicholas has been moved to a hospice as he fights gastric cancer. The composer said Nicholas, 43, was "battling away" having made it through "the worst" of a bout of pneumonia.
In a video on Instagram, Lord Lloyd Webber said Nicholas caught pneumonia as a result of his "ghastly" cancer. The 75-year-old, who wrote the music for hit shows such as Cats, The Phantom Of The Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar, said: “We’re all here and the family here has gathered around and it was the right place for us all to be I think.”
Nicholas, 43, is also a composer and has scored music for an adaption of The Little Prince. He was also nominated for a Grammy for musical theatre album alongside his father, Greg Wells and David Zippel for Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella.
His move into a hospice comes just days after his father revealed he was critically ill. In a statement, Andrew Lloyd Webber said he was "absolutely devastated".
In the Instagram video, Lloyd Webber also thanked the people of Ukraine who sent him a Cats t-shirt following the announcement about Nicholas. He said: “I know that they’ve been performing Cats there in a bunker, a makeshift production.“It’s incredibly moving … everything they’re going through they have been so incredibly thoughtful about dearest Nick. I’m going to go and see Nick in a minute, and I’m going to pass on all of the fantastic wishes that I’ve had for him all the way from everywhere all around the world.”
Lloyd Webber also sent his best wishes “to the other families I have around the world in theatre” on the opening night of his new show Bad Cinderella in New York. He said: “I’m absolutely gutted not to be able to be there but my place is really here in England at the moment.”
