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Nick Cave Biography

Birth Name:Nicholas Edward Cave

Birth Place:Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia

Profession Composer, Music department, Actor, Writer, Director, Producer

Fast Facts

  • Declined an award nomination from MTV for best male artist because he didn't see music as a competition
  • Performed with the goth-rock progenitors the Birthday Party in the late 1970s and early 1980s
  • Quote: "Sometimes the song isn't strong enough to contain the fiction, because memories are fictions․"
  • Quote: "There is nothing private and there's nothing sacred--there's nothing that isn't food for the songs․"
  • Employs a narrative songwriting style and cultivated a persona as a noir antihero
  • Best known as the leader of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which mixed blues, gospel and experimental elements
  • Published his first book, "King Ink," in 1988 and went on to publish "And the Ass Saw the Angel," "The Complete Lyrics" and "The Death of Bunny Munro․"
  • In movies, when a man tries to do the right thing, he often finds himself weeping
  • Once wrote a sentimental song for his child called "Sheep May Safely Graze" and his wife told him to play it for the child, but not inflict it on the world
  • Spent years in Germany and Brazil without learning the languages spoken in either country

Awards

  • 1989AFI Award-Best Original Music Score: nominated
  • 1997ARIA Music Award-Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Recording: winner
  • 2005AFI Award-Best Screenplay, Original: nominated
  • 2005AFI Award-Best Original Music Score: winner
  • 2005FCCA Award-Best Screenplay - Original: nominated
  • 2005FCCA Award-Best Musical Score: winner
  • 2005IF Award-Best Script: nominated
  • 2005IF Award-Best Music: winner
  • 2006Gucci Prize-: winner
  • 2006World Soundtrack Award-Discovery of the Year: nominated
  • 2007ACCA-Best Original Score: nominated
  • 2007CFCA Award-Best Original Score: nominated
  • 2007Chlotrudis Award-Best Original Screenplay: winner
  • 2007Satellite Award-Best Original Score: nominated
  • 2007SLFCA Award-Best Score: nominated
  • 2008ICS Award-Best Original Score: nominated
  • 2008INOCA-Best Original Score: nominated
  • 2008OFTA Film Award-Best Music, Original Score: nominated
  • 2008OFCS Award-Best Original Score: nominated
  • 2009Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score: nominated
  • 2012Silver Ariel-Best Score (Mejor Música de Fondo): winner
  • 2012Mayahuel Award-Best Original Score: winner
  • 2012Satellite Award-Best Original Song: nominated
  • 2013GAFCA Award-Best Original Song: nominated
  • 2013GAFCA Award-Best Original Song: nominated
  • 2013Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema-: nominated
  • 2015AACTA Award-Best Original Music Score in a Documentary: nominated
  • 2015Australian Screen Music Award-Best Original Music for a Feature Film: nominated
  • 2015Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score: winner
  • 2015Cinema Eye Honors Award-The Unforgettables: winner
  • 2015Public Choice Award-: nominated
  • 2016AFCA Award-Best Score: nominated
  • 2016HMMA Award-Best Original Song - Documentary: nominated
  • 2016HMMA Award-Best Original Score - Documentary: nominated
  • 2016SFFCC Award-Best Original Score: nominated
  • 2017Special Crystal Pine-Best Original Score, Feature Film: winner
  • 2022César-Best Original Music (Meilleure musique originale): nominated
  • 2022Lumiere Award-Best Music (Meilleure musique): nominated
  • 2025Astra Award-Best Original Song: nominated
  • 2025GAFCA Award-Best Original Song: nominated
  • 2025Sierra Award-Best Song: nominated
  • 2026Critics Choice Award-Best Song: nominated
  • 2026Golden Globe-Best Original Song - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 2026HFCS Award-Best Song: nominated
  • 2026MCFCA Award-Best Original Song: nominated
  • 2026NDFS Award-Best Original Song: nominated
  • 2026Satellite Award-Best Original Song: nominated