Andrew Lloyd Webber has confirmed that his eldest son Nicholas has died. The 75-year-old Oscar-winning composer said he was "shattered" and that his family had been left "totally bereft".
It comes days after Lord Lloyd Webber revealed that 43-year-old Nicholas, who was also a composer, had been moved to a hospice where he was “battling” gastric cancer.
He said on Twitter on Saturday: “I am shattered to have to announce that my beloved elder son Nick died a few hours ago in Basingstoke Hospital. His whole family is gathered together and we are all totally bereft.”
Nicholas 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.
In an Instagram video last week, Lloyd Webber said Nicholas was "battling away" having made it through "the worst" of a bout of pneumonia. He 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.”
Lloyd Webber’s first wife, Sarah Hugill, is the mother of Nicholas. They also share a daughter, Imogen.
