Written by: Michael Mitchell

Conway Savage, the 30-year veteran pianist and vocalist for Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds and solo artist in his own right, has passed away at age 58. No details have been made public as to his cause of death.

Savage did undergo surgery in 2017 for a brain tumor.

Born in Victoria, Australia in 1960, Savage was a force in the post-punk musical community. He started his musical journey in the 1980’s, playing piano in several different bands before joining Nick Cave in 1990 as part of the Bad Seeds tour for The Good Son. He went on to play on each successive album up to 2013’s Push the Sky Away.

He still was part of the touring band until last year’s diagnosis and subsequent surgery caused him to miss some dates.

Savage was a solo artist, having released several albums under his own moniker as well as with Amanda Fox and Robert Tickner. Guest appearances were also made on numerous other artists albums such as David McComb of The Triffids, Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens, Spencer P. Jones of The Beasts of Bourbon (who passed away just last month) and Nick Cave’s ex-girlfriend, Anita Lane.

An announcement was made through Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds social media stating, “Our beloved Conway passed away on Sunday evening. A member of Bad Seeds for nearly thirty years, Conway was the anarchic thread that ran through the band’s live performances. He was much loved by everyone, band members and fans alike. Irascible, funny, terrifying, sentimental, warm-hearted, gentle, acerbic, honest, genuine – he was all of these things and quite literally “had the gift of a golden voice,” high and sweet and drenched in soul. On a drunken night, at four in the morning, in a hotel bar in Cologne, Conway sat at the piano and sang Streets of Laredo to us, in his sweet, melancholy style and stopped the world for a moment. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Goodbye Conway, there isn’t a dry eye in the house. Love, Nick and the Bad Seeds”.