What is Nick Cave's Net Worth?
Nick Cave is an Australian musician, author, director, performer, and composer who has a net worth of $8 million. Nick Cave is best known as the frontman of the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Before that, he fronted the post-punk band the Birthday Party. Cave ventured increasingly into film in the 21st century, writing screenplays and collaborating with Warren Ellis to compose the scores to such films as "The Proposition," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," and "Blonde."
Early Life and Education
Nick Cave was born on September 22, 1957 in rural Victoria, Australia to Dawn, a high school librarian, and Colin, who taught English and math at the local technical school. Through his father, Cave became interested in literature, and through his older brother became fond of progressive rock music. He attended Wangaratta High School, but was expelled at the age of 13. Cave subsequently moved with his family to suburban Melbourne, where he attended Caulfield Grammar School. He went on to study painting at the Caulfield Institute of Technology, but dropped out after a year. When he was 21, Cave was arrested for burglary; upon his release on bail, he learned that his father had been killed in a car crash.
The Birthday Party
In 1973, with five fellow students from Caulfield Grammar School, Cave formed his first band. Initially, the group performed basic cover songs. After some changes to the lineup, and following graduation, the band adopted the name the Boys Next Door and started playing original music. Throughout the late 1970s, the group was a cornerstone of the post-punk scene in Melbourne, playing hundreds of live shows in the city and across Australia. In 1980, the band was renamed the Birthday Party, and Cave and his bandmates moved to London. During this time, the group became notorious for its wild and confrontational performances, in which Cave would caterwaul and throw himself all over the stage against the sonic background of guitar feedback. His songwriting was also provocative, featuring Old Testament imagery and purposely sordid lyrics, as well as biting, irreverent humor. The Birthday Party ultimately disbanded in 1983.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
After the disbanding of the Birthday Party, Cave formed the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. Blending a variety of genres, including blues, gothic rock, and post-punk, the band became one of the most celebrated acts on the 1980s and 90s alternative rock scenes. Following the release of the Bad Seeds' debut album "From Her to Eternity" in 1984, the group released "The Firstborn is Dead," "Kicking Against the Pricks," "Your Funeral… My Trial," and "Tender Prey." The Bad Seeds softened their sound somewhat for their sixth studio album, 1990's "The Good Son." The band's next album, 1992's "Henry's Dream," was the first to feature bassist Martyn P. Casey and pianist Conway Savage. During the latter half of the decade, the Bad Seeds found mainstream success with "Murder Ballads" and the piano-driven "The Boatman's Call."
Following a four-year break from recording, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released "No More Shall We Part" in 2001. It was followed by 2003's "Nocturama," the group's last album to feature founding member Blixa Bargeld. Subsequent albums were "Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus" and "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" Mick Harvey left the group after the latter album, prompting the Bad Seeds to broaden their sound to include more electronic and ambient styles, as featured on the trilogy of albums "Push the Sky Away," "Skeleton Tree," and "Ghosteen." The lattermost, released in 2019, was written after the death of Cave's son Arthur, and explores themes of grief and faith. It became one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the decade.
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Grinderman
As a side project away from the Bad Seeds, Cave formed the rock band Grinderman in 2006 with Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey, and Jim Sclavunos. The band went on to release its eponymous debut album in 2007. Its second and final studio album, "Grinderman 2," came out in 2010. Cave announced the end of Grinderman in late 2011, although the band did get back together to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2013.
Film Scores
Cave frequently collaborates with his Bad Seeds bandmate Warren Ellis to compose film scores. The first score they composed together was for John Hillcoat's 2005 Australian Western "The Proposition." Next, Cave and Ellis composed the score to Andrew Dominik's 2007 Western "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." In 2009, the duo reunited with Hillcoat for the director's adaptation of the novel "The Road," and in 2011 scored Hillcoat's crime drama "Lawless." Subsequent credits by Cave and Ellis have included David Mackenzie's "Hell or High Water," Taylor Sheridan's "Wind River," and Andrew Dominik's "Blonde." They have also scored multiple documentaries, including "West of Memphis" and "Prophet's Prey."
Other Musical Collaborations
Cave has collaborated with numerous other musical artists during his career, including but not limited to: the Go-Betweens, Lydia Lunch, Die Haut, Johnny Cash, Shane MacGowan, Marianne Faithfull, Kylie Minogue, and Debbie Harry. He has also collaborated on operas, having written the librettos for Nicholas Lens's "Shell Shock" and "L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S."
Books and Screenplays
Cave has released numerous books since his first, "King Ink," came out in 1988. His works have included lyrics, poems, plays, and more. Cave has also penned novels, such as "And the Ass Saw the Angel" and "The Death of Bunny Munro."
As a screenwriter, Cave wrote the screenplays for John Hillcoat's films "The Proposition" and "Lawless." The former focuses on bushrangers in the 19th-century Australian outback, while the latter is an adaptation of Matt Bondurant's historical novel "The Wettest County in the World."
Personal Life
From the late 1970s to the mid-80s, Cave was in a relationship with singer-songwriter Anita Lane. Later, after moving to Brazil in 1990, he met and married journalist Viviane Carneiro. Together, they had a son named Luke before divorcing in 1996. Just days before Luke was born, Cave had a son named Jethro from a woman in Australia. Jethro passed away in 2022.
In the mid-90s, Cave dated singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. After they broke up, he met British model Susie Bick, whom he wed in 1999. They had twin sons named Arthur and Earl the following year. In the summer of 2015, Arthur was killed after accidentally falling from a cliff near Brighton, England. The family's grief is explored in Andrew Dominik's documentary film "One More Time with Feeling."
Real Estate
In the early 2000s, Nick paid 165,000 pounds or a seafront home in Brighton, England. He sold this home in March 2023 for 2.9 million pounds.
