Nick Cave, the iconic Australian musician and songwriter, is known not only for his hauntingly poetic lyrics but also for his intriguing life and career.
Here are 23 fascinating Nick Cave facts that shed light on this enigmatic artist. Cave was born in Warracknabeal, Australia, and initially pursued a career in painting before fully embracing music.
His band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has released over 17 studio albums, each exploring a wide range of musical styles and themes. Cave’s fascination with the macabre and his love for literature inspired some of his most iconic songs, including “The Mercy Seat.” He’s also known for his dynamic stage presence, often captivating audiences with his charismatic performances.
Nick Cave Facts
1- Nick Cave Born Sept. 1957 in Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia
2- His father worked as an English and mathematics teacher at the local technical high school, and his mother was a librarian
3- He Is a talented pianist.
4- Nick Cave started his career in the Australian post-punk band The Birthday Party – formerly known as The Boys Next Door.
5- Nick Cave writes his songs on a typewriter.
6- Cave’s first film appearance was in Wim Wenders’ 1987 film Wings of Desire
7- He was 19 when his father was killed in a car collision
8- Nick Cave is Author of the books ‘And The Ass Saw The Angel’ and ‘King Ink’.
9- His texts are characteristic of circling around the subjects of religion, death, love and violence
10- Cave has also lent his voice in narrating the animated film The Cat Piano
11- He briefly dated PJ Harvey in the mid-1990s, just before he met his current wife, Susie Bick.
12- Nick Cave named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017
13- In 1990 Cave moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to escape the goth and punk cults who claimed him as their idol.
14- In 1996 he was nominated for Best Male Artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards for “Murder Ballads”
15- Cave wrote a screenplay titled The Wettest County in the World,[ which was used for the 2012 film Lawless, directed again by John Hillcoat, starring Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf.
16- In 2001, Cave recorded a cover of the Beatles’ “Let It Be” for the film I Am Sam
17- Cave doesn’t see much TV, but when that happens, X-Files is one of the favorites.
18- When Cave was 9 he joined the choir of Wangaratta’s Holy Trinity Cathedral
19- Nick Cave has always been vocal about his love of Johnny Cash. In 2000, Cash covered Cave’s ‘The Mercy Seat’ as a thank you for Cave’s covering of Cash’s ‘The Folk Singer’ on his Kicking Against the Pricks album, who said you should never meet your heroes?
20- His works also appear in a number of major TV programs among them Trauma, The L Word, Traveler, The Unit, I Love the ’70s, Outpatient, The Others, Nip/Tuck, and Californication
21- Cave wrote the screenplay for The Proposition, a film about bushrangers in the Australian outback during the late 19th century.
22- Cave is the godfather of the now deceased INXS lead singer Michael Hutchenche with the spoken name Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence Geldof.
23- When Nick Cave was young, he dreamed of becoming a painter, and he has previously stated: “I really wanted to be a painter – the lifestyle, and what I considered a painter to be, I found very attractive when I was young . The solidarity aspect of it. But I dumped at the art school, so that was it … I’m glad I’m not a painter now. “
24- Nick Cave was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007.
