Nick Cave releases heartbreaking tribute to ‘best friend’ Anita Lane

The Australian music icon has spoken of his profound grief after losing his “best friend,” former partner and key musical collaborator.

Australian music icon Nick Cave has spoken publicly of his grief after the death of his former partner and bandmate Anita Lane.

It was announced earlier this week that Lane, a former member of Cave’s bands The Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party, had died aged 61. She and Cave were in a relationship from 1977 to 1983, and they remained friends and collaborators after their split, with Lane and Cave writing several key Bad Seeds songs together including From Her To Eternity and Stranger Than Kindness. Melbourne-born Lane later released two albums as a solo artist.

Writing on his website The Red Hand Files, Cave, 63, penned a lengthy tribute to Lane after many requests from fans to share his thoughts.

“You think you know grief, you think you’ve worked out its mechanics, you think you’ve become grief-savvy – stronger, wiser, more resilient – you think that there is nothing more that can hurt you in this world, and then Anita dies,” he wrote.

He called her “the brains behind The Birthday Party,” writing that “she was the smartest and most talented of all of us, by far”.

“How could something so luminous carry so much darkness? Drank gin out of a baby’s bottle. Despised the concept of the muse but was everybody’s. Spoke in a child’s voice and was my best friend. Two months ago, speaking to her on the phone she seemed a million miles away.

Loved her children more than anything. They were her pride and joy. It was both easy and terrifying to love her. Leaves a big, crying space.”

Nick Cave says Lane was his ‘best friend’. Picture: AFP

Cave has suffered his share of tragedy in recent years, with his son Arthur, 15, dying in 2015 after falling from a cliff near Brighton in the UK. The aftermath of Arthur’s death was subsequently explored in the 2017 Nick Cave documentaryOne More Time With Feeling.

Cave’s was among many tributes to Lane from across the music industry:

Goodbye lovely Anita, my most magical friend. Will be so missed. Love to all who loved her . 💔✨#anitalanepic.twitter.com/VL4smrGM9P

— Kid Congo Powers (@kidcongopowers) April 28, 2021

Hearing her album “Sex o Clock” as a child made a huge impression on me and my music -obviously. RIP icon ✨💖 https://t.co/gUC9GNWKpC

— Holiday Sidewinder (@hsidewinder) April 28, 2021

The cause of Lane’s death has not been made public.