Andrew Lloyd Webber has said he and his family are “totally bereft” after the death of his eldest son Nicholas.
The 75-year-old Oscar-winning composer shared the news on Twitter on Saturday, writing: “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. – ALW”
It comes after Lord Lloyd-Webber recently revealed that 43-year-old Nicholas, who was also a composer, had been moved to a hospice where he was “battling” gastric cancer.
During his career, 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 Lord Lloyd-Webber’s Cinderella.
The news follows a video posted to Lord Lloyd-Webber’s Instagram account on Thursday, in which the composer said his son was “over the worst of this first bout of pneumonia” which he caught as a result of his “ghastly” cancer.
Lord Lloyd-Webber – who wrote the music for hit shows such as Cats, The Phantom Of The Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar – said in a video on Instagram: “We’re all here and the family here has gathered around and it was the right place for us all to be I think.”
In the video he also thanked the people of Ukraine who sent him a Cats T-shirt following the announcement that his son was “critically ill”.
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.”
Lord 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.”
The Broadway show is a retooled version of London West End’s Cinderella, which takes its name from a key song in the show and has new songs, leading lady and title.
Lord Lloyd-Webber’s first wife, Sarah Hugill, is the mother of Nicholas. They also share a daughter, Imogen.
