Hoping to find out more about his family history, famous musical composer and director Andrew Lloyd Webber appeared on BBC One's Who Do You Think You Are? While on the show he became emotional as he discovered a tragic family story, that mirrored his own loss of losing his son.
In March, 2023, Andrew's oldest son Nicholas died from gastric cancer, leaving Andrew "shattered" and "totally bereft". It has not been confirmed in Who Do You Think You Are? if the episode was filmed before or after Nicholas's death. You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here.
But while looking back through his family history, Andrew discovered that one of his distant relatives, Henry Simmons, who lived during the late 1800s, also lost his son. After reading extracts that Henry wrote, which said Henry and his wife were "plunged into deep and unexpected grief" after they lost their son Edward, who was 10 years old when he drowned, Andrew became emotional. You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here.
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He said: "That is incredibly sad...it has a kind of resonance with me if you don't mind me getting a little emotional because my uncle who I never met, Alastair was drowned. This is so sad." while he wiped his tears away. During his life Henry worked to help those less fortunate than him, which Andrew said he found very inspiring.
Andrew announced his son's death on Twitter. He said: "I am shattered to have to announce that my beloved elder son Nick died a few hours ago in Basingstoke Hospital. His whole family is gathered together and we are all totally bereft."
Andrew's first wife, Sarah Hugill, is the mother of Nicholas. They also share a daughter, Imogen. Nicholas scored music for an adaption of The Little Prince. He was also nominated for a Grammy for the musical theatre album alongside his father, Greg Wells and David Zippel, for Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella.
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