Andrew Lloyd Webber confirms death of son Nicholas, saying he is ‘totally bereft’
By Connie Evans, PA Entertainment Reporter
Andrew Lloyd Webber has confirmed that his eldest son Nicholas has died.
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 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 Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella.
The news follows a video posted to 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.
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.”
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.
Lloyd Webber’s first wife, Sarah Hugill, is the mother of Nicholas. They also share a daughter, Imogen.