Nick Lloyd Webber died on Saturday, March 25 at age 43. Andrew Lloyd Webber, his father, shared the news in a statement hours after his death.
“I am shattered to have to announce that my beloved elder son Nick died a few hours ago in Basingstoke Hospital,” Andrew said in a statement via social media on Saturday. “His whole family is gathered together and we are all totally bereft. Thank you for all your thoughts during this difficult time.”
Nick’s death followed an 18-month battle with gastric cancer. His health issues were kept private until one week prior to his death when Andrew, 75, announced that he had not been at previews of his new Broadway musical, Bad Cinderella, and would miss the opening night due to his son’s illness.
“I am absolutely devastated to say that my eldest son Nick is critically ill,” the EGOT winner shared in a statement on March 18. “As my friends and family know, he has been fighting gastric cancer for the last 18 months and Nick is now hospitalised. We are all praying that Nick will turn the corner. He is bravely fighting with his indomitable humour, but at the moment my place is with him and the family.”
The Cats composer shared an update on Thursday, March 23, revealing that Nick was moved into end-of-life care.
“I want to thank you for the outpouring of messages of support for my son, Nick,” Andrew said in a video via Instagram. “He’s now been moved into a hospice and he’s battling away. I think he’s over the worst of this first bout of pneumonia [that] he’s got as a result of his cancer, which is just ghastly. We’re all here, and the family here has gathered around, and it was the right place for us all to be I think.”
He added that Nick appreciated the outpouring of support from fans.
Following in his famous father’s footsteps, Nick was a composer and producer. He earned a Grammy Award nomination in 2022 for producing the West End soundtrack for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella. The musical hit Broadway with the title Bad Cinderella and opened on Thursday.
He is survived by wife Polly Wiltshire, who he married in 2018, and four siblings.
Nick was one of two children Andrew shared with first wife Sarah Hugill, to whom he was married from July 1971 to November 1983. They also share daughter Imogen Lloyd Webber, 45, who attended Bad Cinderella‘s opening night in New York City in place of her father and brother.
“Was visiting with my darling little bro and he wanted me [at] @badcinderellabway tonight so I will be for the family. We’ve always supported Dad and his shows … Will be back giving Nick a hug again soon. Big thank you for all the kind messages and ❤️ to all those bravely coping with cancer,” Imogen wrote via Instagram on Thursday.
Andrew and third wife Madeleine Gurdon share Nick and Imogen’s three younger half-siblings: Alastair, 30, William, 29, and Isabella, 26.
