Music
Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals son Nicholas is critically ill
The legendary composer recently announced that his eldest son is “critically ill” with stomach cancer.
Legendary composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, 74, revealed in a statement that his eldest son, Nicholas Lloyd Webber, 43, who is also a composer, is “critically ill” with gastric cancer.
Webber has since been at his son’s side and said that he’s “absolutely devastated” about the diagnosis.
“As my friends and family know, he has been fighting gastric cancer for the last 18 months and Nick is not hospitalized,” Webber wrote. “I, therefore, have not been able to attend the recent previews of ‘Bad Cinderella’ and as things stand, I will not be able to cheer on its wonderful cast, crew and orchestra on opening night this Thursday.”
“We are all praying that Nick will turn the corner,” he continued. “He is bravely fighting with his indomitable humor, but at the moment my place is with him and the family.”
Nicholas Lloyd Webber’s career
A composer in his own right, Nicholas gained a Grammy nomination after scoring ‘Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella’ in 2021. He’s also composed scores for the film ‘The Last Bus’, the BBC series ‘Love, Lies and Records’, the short ‘Mr. Invisible’, the musical ‘The Little Prince’ and more.
Nicholas has previously discussed how he’s navigated his career while being the son to a renowned composer.
“For a long time, I dropped the Lloyd bit – to see what the reaction would be,” he told The Times. “I got some radio stuff, so I thought, ‘OK, I’m obviously not a complete idiot.’
“Then I thought, ‘Hang on, if other people are prepared to work with me without the surname, then maybe I should just get one with it.’”
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway comeback
Arguably one of the most successful composers of all time, Webber found fame through his work in ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, ‘School of Rock’, ‘Cats’ and many more.
His latest venture, ‘Bad Cinderella’, is his first Broadway production since ‘School of Rock’ closed in 2019. Webber scored the music with lyrics by Tony and Oliver winner David Zippel, a book by Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell and was produced alongside his son Nicholas.
Originally titled ‘Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella’, the musical debuted in London, but was later revamped as ‘Bad Cinderella’ for its Broadway performances.