The tragic news of the accidental death of Australian rock legend Nick Cave’s 15-year-old son has shocked family, friends and fans all over the world.
Message after message of support and condolences have poured in for the family after Arthur fell to his death from Ovingdean Gap in Brighton, England, near where the family live. He was found at 6pm on Tuesday at the bottom of the 18-meter cliff.
#TBT to last week when @NickCave rolled through with his sons, Earl and Arthur. @heroinurethane #legendstatus pic.twitter.com/qo4ZmF40na
— The Berrics (@berrics) July 25, 2014
In a press statement the family said, “Our son Arthur died on Tuesday evening. He was our beautiful, happy loving boy. We ask that we be given the privacy our family needs to grieve at this difficult time.” Police have reportedly said they are treating his death as a tragic accident.
Arthur’s parents, model Susie Bick and Nick Cave, and twin brother Earl visited the cliff top on Wednesday afternoon and viewed tributes placed there, Brighton’s The Argus newspaper reported.
Aussie singer Nick Cave’s teen son has left this heartbreaking note for his late twin brother pic.twitter.com/FcvquwVn0O
— Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef) July 16, 2015
Earl left flowers and a note on the beach where the accident happend.
“This news is shocking; being at school with Arthur in the recent two years, I formed a good friendship with him,” the boy’s friend Lucy Hopson told The Argus.
According to media reports Arthur would have had to climb over a 1.2 metre fence to get to the top of the cliff from where he fell.
Sussex Police said Arthur’s death was not linked to a photograph taken 16 kilometres along the coast of a group of teenagers sitting with their legs dangling over a 90-metre cliff, this according to reports in The Times of London.
A resident who took the photograph said there were numerous fatalities on the cliff edge each year, and that warning posts or fences regularly fell, with rocks, into the sea.
Thanks to @nickcave & his sons Arthur & Earl, for recently stopping by #HUFheadquarters. #waitwhat #hufworldwide #HUF pic.twitter.com/kU5sIco8Ig
— HUF (@hufworldwide) April 1, 2015
Last year, Arthur appeared in 20,000 Days on Earth, an award-winning quasi-documentary about a day in the life of his father.
Arthur was shown sitting alongside his father and brother watching Scarface, a violent crime film.
Nick Cave later explained that he had watched “a lot of super violent stuff” with his teenage sons, The Times reported.
Image: Nick Cave via Facebook. This image was taken during the filming of Cave’s documentary 20,000 Days on Earth. In this picture Arthur is to the right of the picture and Earl on the left.