Nick Cave has opened up about how the parents of Love Island contestant Luca helped him and his wife through the “unspeakable” tragedy of losing their son.
Arthur Cave died after he fell from a cliff in Ovingdean, East Sussex in 2015. He was 15 years old.
For the latest entry into his long-running Q&A site Red Hand Files, Cave was asked what the “major difference” is between him and his wife, Susie. In response, the Bad Seeds frontman explained that “Susie watches Love Island, and I don’t”.
He went on to talk about the couple’s connection to a current contestant on the ITV2 reality series, Luca Bish.
“Luca was a school friend of our twins, Arthur and Earl,” Cave wrote. “As a consequence, Susie and I became friends with Luca’s parents, Maria and Michael. Maria is an antique dealer. Michael is a fishmonger. Luca is a fishmonger too.
“After Arthur died, in the early days of that terrible, chaotic first week, Maria turned up on our doorstep with a tray of lasagne and basically looked after us. She barely said anything to us. She made us cups of tea. She cooked for us. She was just there. She was the one constant through a time of horror and confusion, when scores of despairing and commiserating people came and went.”
He continued: “We will never forget her kindness. Even in the first week, when the world seemed suddenly and shockingly defined by an unspeakable and distorting cruelty, Maria reminded us that there was good in the world. She also served as a lesson in how to deal with grieving people – you don’t need to say anything, just do something; make them a cup of tea, cook them dinner.
“To this day Michael brings fresh fish around to our house, drops it off and leaves without a word. He pretends to charge us for it, but we know that he doesn’t. These people, Luca’s parents, are as good as people get, and they love their son, Luca.”
Cave concluded: “So, Susie watches Love Island and cheers him on, and hopes that he will win. I also hope that Luca wins, and wins soon, because then I can get the fucking TV back. Love, Nick.”
Nick Cave first spoke about losing Arthur during One More Time With Feeling, the 2016 film that delved into “the deeply personal circumstances surrounding the making of ‘Skeleton Tree’“.
In a Red Hand Files post last November, the singer said that he and Susie moved to Los Angeles because Brighton became “too sad” following his son’s death.
In May, Cave’s son Jethro Lazenby died at the age of 31. The musician later thanked fans for sending their “condolences and kind words”, adding that they were “a great source of comfort”.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds played their first show in four years early last month as part of the band’s 2022 summer tour.
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