Nick Cave facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nick Cave AO FRSL
Cave in 2021
Born	Nicholas Edward Cave (1957-09-22) 22 September 1957 (age 67) Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Singer songwriter musician writer actor composer
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Viviane Carneiro ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 1996)​ Susie Bick ​ ​ (m. 1999)​
Partner(s)	Anita Lane (1977–1983)
Children	4
Musical career
Genres	Post-punk alternative rock gothic rock art rock experimental rock garage rock
Instruments	Vocals piano keyboards guitar harmonica saxophone
Labels	Bad Seed Mute 4AD

Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor. He is best known as the leader of the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nick Cave is famous for his deep voice and music that is full of strong feelings and different styles.

He grew up in rural Victoria, Australia. Nick Cave studied art in Melbourne before becoming the lead singer of the Birthday Party in the late 1970s. This was a popular post-punk band in Melbourne. In 1980, the band moved to London, England. They developed a unique, darker sound that helped inspire gothic rock. The band broke up after moving to West Berlin in 1982.

The next year, Cave formed Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This band has been called one of rock's "most enduring" groups. Many of their early songs were set in the American Deep South. They were inspired by spirituals and Delta blues music. Nick Cave's interest in stories of good versus evil led to his famous song, "The Mercy Seat" (1988). He also wrote his first novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989). In 1988, he acted in Ghosts… of the Civil Dead, an Australian prison film he helped write and score.

In the 1990s, Cave lived in São Paulo, Brazil, and England. He found new inspiration and achieved wider success with calmer, piano-based songs. These included the duet "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (1996) with Kylie Minogue, and "Into My Arms" (1997). In the 2000s, he started working more on films. Cave wrote the Australian Western film The Proposition (2005). He also composed its music with his friend and frequent collaborator Warren Ellis. They have scored many films, including The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and The Road (2009).

Cave and Ellis also formed a side project called Grinderman. This garage rock band released two albums starting in 2006. In 2009, Nick Cave released his second novel, The Death of Bunny Munro. He also starred in 20,000 Days on Earth (2014), a film about a day in his life. His newer music includes ambient and electronic sounds. The lyrics have become more abstract, partly due to the grief over his son Arthur's death in 2015. This experience is explored in the documentary One More Time with Feeling (2016) and the Bad Seeds' 2019 album Ghosteen. The band's most recent album, Wild God, came out in 2024.

Since 2018, Cave has written The Red Hand Files. This is a newsletter where he answers questions from his fans. He has worked with many artists, like Johnny Cash and PJ Harvey. Other artists, including Cash and Metallica, have covered his songs. He was added to the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2017, he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Early Life and Education

Holy Trinity Cathedral in Wangaratta, where Cave was a choirboy.

Nick Cave was born on 22 September 1957 in Warracknabeal, a country town in Victoria, Australia. His parents were Dawn and Colin Frank Cave. As a child, he lived in Warracknabeal and then Wangaratta. His father taught English and math. His mother was a librarian at the high school Nick attended. From a young age, his father introduced him to classic books like Crime and Punishment. His father also organized a meeting about the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, whom Nick admired as a child.

Through his older brother, Nick became a fan of progressive rock bands like King Crimson and Pink Floyd. A childhood girlfriend introduced him to Leonard Cohen. Nick later called Cohen "the greatest songwriter of them all."

When Nick was 9, he joined the choir at Wangaratta's Holy Trinity Cathedral. At 13, he was expelled from Wangaratta High School. In 1970, he moved with his family to Murrumbeena, a suburb of Melbourne. There, he attended Caulfield Grammar School. His father died in a car accident when Nick was 21. He later said that his father's death created a "vacuum" in his life. This space helped his words "float and collect and find their purpose."

After high school, Cave studied painting at the Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1976. However, he left the next year to focus on music.

Nick Cave went to his first music concert at Melbourne's Festival Hall. The bands playing were Manfred Mann, Deep Purple, and Free. Cave remembered feeling the sound "physically going through" him. In early 1977, he saw Australian punk rock groups Radio Birdman and the Saints live. The Saints' show especially inspired him. He said he left the venue "a different person."

Music Career

Early Years and The Birthday Party (1973–1983)

In 1973, Nick Cave met Mick Harvey (guitar) and Phill Calvert (drums) at Caulfield Grammar. They started a band with Cave as the singer. They played simple cover songs by artists like Lou Reed and David Bowie. Later, the band became smaller, with Cave and his friend Tracy Pew on bass. In 1977, after leaving school, they called themselves The Boys Next Door. They started playing mostly their own songs. Guitarist and songwriter Rowland S. Howard joined the band in 1978.

They were a leading band in Melbourne's post-punk scene in the late 1970s. They played many live shows in Australia. In 1980, they changed their name to The Birthday Party and moved to London. Cave's girlfriend, Anita Lane, went with them.

The Birthday Party gained many fans in Europe and Australia. The band broke up in 1983.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1984–present)

Cave performing in Belgium, 1986

Nick Cave is the lead singer of this band. They have released eighteen studio albums. Pitchfork calls them one of rock's "most enduring" bands. Their sound often changes from album to album. However, they always mix different music styles in a raw way. This allows for Cave's powerful and dramatic singing.

Hamburg, Germany July 2001

Their newest album, Wild God, was released in August 2024.

In 2013, Cave said he went back to using a typewriter for songwriting. He explained that with computers, he "could walk in on a bad day and hit 'delete' and that was the end of it." He believes he lost valuable work this way.

Grinderman (2006–2010)

Cave and Ellis performing as Grinderman in 2008

In 2006, Cave formed Grinderman. The band included himself on vocals and guitar, Warren Ellis on various instruments, Martyn P. Casey on bass, and Jim Sclavunos on drums. This alternative rock band was created to "escape the weight of the Bad Seeds." The band's name came from a Memphis Slim song, "Grinder Man Blues." Cave reportedly started singing this song during an early practice session.

The band's first album, Grinderman, came out in 2007. It received good reviews. Their second and last album, Grinderman 2, was released in 2010 and also got good reviews.

Grinderman's first public show was at All Tomorrow's Parties in April 2007. Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream joined them for backing vocals.

In December 2011, Nick Cave announced that Grinderman was finished. However, two years later, Grinderman played at the 2013 Coachella Festival. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also performed there.

Music in Film and Television

Nick Cave's music has been used in many films and TV shows. His song "Shivers" was in the 1986 film Dogs in Space.

German director Wim Wenders was an early fan of Cave's music. Cave and the Bad Seeds appeared in Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire. They performed "The Carny" and "From Her to Eternity". Two original songs were in Wenders' 1993 sequel Faraway, So Close!.

Cave's songs have also appeared in many big Hollywood movies. "There is a Light" was on the 1995 soundtrack for Batman Forever. "Red Right Hand" was in films like Dumb and Dumber (1994) and the Scream series. For Scream 3, Cave wrote new lyrics and added an orchestra to the song. "People Ain't No Good" was in Shrek 2 (2004). "O Children" was used in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).

His music also appears in many major TV shows. These include Nip/Tuck, Californication, and After Life. "Red Right Hand" is the theme song for Peaky Blinders. Other artists like PJ Harvey and Arctic Monkeys have covered this song for the show.

Collaborations

1980–2000

In 1982, Cave and his bandmates from The Birthday Party formed a short-lived band called Tuff Monks. They released one single. Later that year, Cave worked on the album Honeymoon in Red.

During his time in Berlin, Cave worked with the band Die Haut on their album Burnin' the Ice (1983). After The Birthday Party broke up, Cave performed in the United States with the Immaculate Consumptive. This was a "super-group" with other artists.

After covering each other's songs, Cave and Johnny Cash (pictured) recorded duets for what would be Cash's final studio album.

Nick Cave has always been a fan of Johnny Cash. Cave covered Cash's song "The Singer" in 1986. Cash later covered Cave's "The Mercy Seat" in 2000. Cave was asked to write notes for Cash's album The Essential Johnny Cash. Later, Cave recorded a duet with Cash, a cover of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". This was for Cash's last album, American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). Another duet, "Cindy", was released after Cash's death. Cave's song "Let the Bells Ring" (2004) is a tribute to Cash.

Cave's ex-partner, PJ Harvey, appears on his studio album Murder Ballads, notably the single "Henry Lee".

Cave worked with Shane MacGowan on cover versions of songs by Bob Dylan and Louis Armstrong. Cave also covered The Pogues' song "Rainy Night in Soho". For his album Murder Ballads (1996), Cave recorded "Where the Wild Roses Grow" with Kylie Minogue. He also recorded "Henry Lee" with PJ Harvey.

2000–present

In 2004, Cave helped Marianne Faithfull on her album Before the Poison. He co-wrote and produced three songs for her. He also appeared on her 2008 album, Easy Come, Easy Go.

He worked with Chris Bailey from The Saints on the 2003 song "Bring It On". Cave also sang on the children's music album Catch That Train! (2006).

In 2010, Cave started a series of duets with Debbie Harry of Blondie. In 2011, Cave recorded a cover of The Zombies' "She's Not There" with Neko Case. This song was used in the TV show True Blood.

In 2014, Cave wrote the story for the opera Shell Shock. This opera was by Belgian composer Nicholas Lens. It premiered in Brussels. In 2020, Cave wrote the story for another opera by Nicholas Lens, L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S.

Film Scores and Theatre Music

Cave creates original film music with his bandmate Warren Ellis. They first worked together in 2005 on the film The Proposition. Cave also wrote the script for this film.

In 2007, Cave and Ellis composed music for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. They also wrote the music for The Road (2009). In 2011, Cave and Ellis worked again with director John Hillcoat on Lawless. Cave also wrote the script for this film.

In 2016, Cave and Ellis scored the film Hell or High Water. The next year, they scored Wind River and War Machine.

Cave and Ellis have also scored many documentary films. They have also created music for the Icelandic theatre group Vesturport.

Writing

Cave released his first book, King Ink, in 1988. It is a collection of his song lyrics and plays. This was followed by King Ink II in 1997.

Cave reading from The Death of Bunny Munro in New York City, 2009.

While living in West Berlin, Cave started writing his first novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989). The book shares similar ideas with the lyrics Cave wrote for The Birthday Party and his early solo career.

In 2015, he released the book The Sick Bag Song. In 2022, he released Faith, Hope, and Carnage. This book is a collection of phone conversations between Cave and writer Sean O'Hagan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contributions

Besides film music, Cave also wrote the screenplays for John Hillcoat's films The Proposition (2005) and Lawless (2012).

Cave wrote the introduction for a book version of the Gospel According to Mark in 1998. He also contributed to a book about the band the Triffids in 2009.

Acting

Cave's first film appearance was in Wim Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire. In it, he and the Bad Seeds are shown performing a concert.

Cave has acted in films sometimes. He appeared in the 1989 film Ghosts… of the Civil Dead and the 1991 film Johnny Suede with Brad Pitt.

In 2005, Cave appeared in Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, a tribute to Leonard Cohen. He sang "I'm Your Man" and "Suzanne". He also appeared in the 2007 film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. In this film, he sings "The Ballad of Jesse James". Nick Cave and his son Luke performed one of the songs for the film's music.

Cave also narrated the animated film The Cat Piano (2009).

Screenwriting

Cave at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival

Cave wrote the screenplay for The Proposition. This film is about bushrangers in the Australian outback in the late 1800s. It was directed by John Hillcoat and filmed in 2004. It was released in 2005 and received good reviews. Cave explained that writing the script felt like "just making up a big story."

The film critic for The Independent newspaper called The Proposition "peerless" and "a star-studded and uncompromisingly violent outlaw film." Cave and Warren Ellis recorded the film's music.

At the request of his friend Russell Crowe, Cave wrote a script for a possible sequel to Gladiator. However, the studio did not use it.

In 2010, it was announced that Andy Serkis and Cave would work on a movie of the musical The Threepenny Opera. As of 2024, this project has not been made.

Cave wrote a screenplay called The Wettest County in the World. This was used for the 2012 film Lawless, also directed by John Hillcoat.

Blogging

Nick Cave has a personal blog and an online page where he talks with his fans called The Red Hand Files. This is like a continuation of his live "In Conversation" talks. On the page, Cave discusses art, religion, current events, and music. Fans can also ask him personal questions. The Guardian praised Cave's approach on The Red Hand Files. They called it "a shelter from the online storm free of discord and conspiracies."

In January 2023, someone sent him a song written by ChatGPT "in the style of Nick Cave." He responded on The Red Hand Files. He said that songwriting "is not mimicry, or replication, or pastiche, it is the opposite." He added that it "requires my humanness." He concluded that the AI-written song was "a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human."

Legacy and Influence

In 2010, NME ranked Cave as the 19th greatest living lyricist. Flea called him the greatest living songwriter in 2011. Rob O'Connor of Yahoo! Music listed him as the 23rd best lyricist in rock history.

Many singers have said that Cave's early work with The Birthday Party influenced them. This includes David Yow from The Jesus Lizard. Alexis Marshall of Daughters admires the personality and energy in Cave's voice. He said Cave's early albums "exposed [him] to lyrical content as literature."

Personal Life

Cave left Australia in 1980. He lived in London, Berlin, and São Paulo. In the early 2000s, he moved to Brighton, England.

The film 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) is about Cave's life and is set in Brighton. In 2017, Cave told GQ magazine that he and his family were thinking of moving to Los Angeles. This was because it was "too difficult to live here" after his son Arthur's death.

In November 2021, Cave explained on The Red Hand Files why he and his wife Susie moved from Brighton to L.A. He said, "Brighton had just become too sad." However, they returned after realizing they "just took our sadness with us." Now, they spend much of their time in London.

Cave was a guest at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla in May 2023.

On his blog, Cave discussed practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM). He said, "from the first time I meditated, I stopped fearing the end of the world." In 2025, he shared that he regularly attends a 900-year-old Anglican church in London. He enjoys the traditional services there.

Family

Susie Bick, 2013

Cave dated singer-songwriter Anita Lane from the late 1970s to mid-1980s. They worked on music together. Lane co-wrote lyrics for Cave's songs like "From Her to Eternity" (1984).

Cave moved to São Paulo, Brazil, in 1990. There, he met and married his first wife, Viviane Carneiro, a journalist. Their son Luke was born in 1991. Cave and Carneiro were married for six years and divorced in 1996.

Cave's son Jethro was also born in 1991, just ten days before Luke. Jethro grew up with his mother, Beau Lazenby, in Melbourne, Australia. Cave and Jethro did not meet until Jethro was about seven or eight years old. Jethro died in May 2022 at age 31.

Cave briefly dated English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey in the mid-1990s. They recorded the duet "Henry Lee". Their breakup influenced his album The Boatman's Call (1997).

In 1997, Cave met English model Susie Bick. They married in 1999. Their twin sons, Arthur and Earl, were born in London in 2000. They were raised in Brighton. Susie Bick is the model on the cover of Cave's album Push the Sky Away (2013).

On 14 July 2015, when he was 15 years old, Cave's son Arthur died after falling from a cliff near Brighton. The impact of Arthur's death on Cave and his family was explored in the documentary film One More Time with Feeling (2016) and the album Ghosteen (2019).

Nick Cave is the godfather to Michael Hutchence's daughter Tiger Lily Hutchence Geldof. Cave performed "Into My Arms" at Hutchence's televised funeral.

Discography

Cave performing in 2008

• Carnage (with Warren Ellis) (2021)

Films

• 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) – Cave co-wrote the script.
• One More Time with Feeling (2016) – directed by Andrew Dominik.
• I Want Everything (2020) – a short documentary where Cave appears.
• Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace (2020) – a concert film.
• This Much I Know to Be True (2022) – directed by Andrew Dominik.

Exhibitions

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds European Tour 1992, Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne, 1992–1993. A photo exhibition.
• Nick Cave: The Exhibition, Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne, 2007. This exhibition was based on the Nick Cave collection. It later toured Australia.
• Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition, Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2020. This exhibition shows Cave's life and work. He helped curate it.
• We, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland, 2022–2023. This exhibition shows 17 of Cave's handmade ceramic figures.

Awards and Honours

APRA Music Awards

The APRA Awards are given every year in Australia. They honor songwriters and composers. They started in 1982.

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are annual awards in Australia. They celebrate great achievements in Australian music. They started in 1987.

Australian Music Prize

The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000. It is given to an Australian artist for a great album released that year. It started in 2005.

EG Awards / Music Victoria Awards

The EG Awards (now called Music Victoria Awards) are annual awards celebrating music from Victoria, Australia. They started in 2006.

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are given every year to honor great achievements in music. They are considered the highest honor in the music industry.

J Awards

The J Awards are Australian music awards. They were created by the radio station Triple J. They started in 2005.

Other Awards

• Order of Australia: (2017) Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). This was for his great work in music, writing, and acting, both in Australia and worldwide.
• 1990 Time Out Magazine: Book of the Year (And the Ass Saw the Angel).
• 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards: Nick Cave asked for his "Best Male Artist" nomination to be removed. He said he was not comfortable with the "competitive nature" of such awards.
• 2004 Mojo Awards: Best Album of 2004 (Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus).
• 2005 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards: Best Musical Score (The Proposition).
• 2005 Inside Film Awards: Best Music (The Proposition).
• 2005 AFI Awards: Best Original Music Score with Warren Ellis (The Proposition).
• 2005 Q Awards: Q Classic Songwriter Award.
• 2006 Venice Film Festival: Gucci Award (for the script to The Proposition).
• 2008 Awarded an honorary degree as Doctor of Laws, by Monash University.
• 2008 Mojo Awards: Best Album of 2008 (Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!).
• 2010 made an honorary Doctor of Laws, by University of Dundee.
• 2011 Mojo Awards: Song of the Year for "Heathen Child" by Grinderman.
• 2011 Straight to You – Triple J's tribute tour to Nick Cave for his work in Australian music.
• 2012 Doctor of Letters, an honorary degree from the University of Brighton.
• 2014 International Istanbul Film Festival: FIPRESCI Prize for 20,000 Days on Earth.
• 2014 Sundance Film Festival: World Cinema Documentary Directing Award & Editing Award for 20,000 Days on Earth.
• 2014 Quebec City Film Festival: Grand Prix for 20,000 Days on Earth.
• 2014 Athens International Film Festival: Golden Athena for 20,000 Days on Earth.
• 2014 The Ivor Novello Awards: Best Album award for songwriting for Push the Sky Away.
• 2014 British Independent Film Awards: The Douglas Hickox Award Best Debut Director for 20,000 Days on Earth.
• 2015 Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Original Music Score for "20,000 Days on Earth".
• 2022 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
• National Live Music Awards of 2023: Best International Tour in Australia with Warren Ellis.

Images for kids

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  Cave in 2021

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  Holy Trinity Cathedral in Wangaratta, where Cave was a choirboy.

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  Cave performing in Belgium, 1986

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  Hamburg, Germany July 2001

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  Cave and Ellis performing as Grinderman in 2008

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  After covering each other's songs, Cave and Johnny Cash (pictured) recorded duets for what would be Cash's final studio album.

• 

  Cave's ex-partner, PJ Harvey, appears on his studio album Murder Ballads, notably the single "Henry Lee".

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  Cave reading from The Death of Bunny Munro in New York City, 2009.

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  Cave at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival

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  Susie Bick, 2013

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  Cave performing in 2008

See Also

In Spanish: Nick Cave para niños

• List of Caulfield Grammar School people