The Phantom of the Opera composer Andrew Lloyd Webber revealed his eldest son, Nicholas Lloyd Webber, is critically ill with gastric cancer.

“I am absolutely devastated to say that my eldest son Nick is critically ill,” the Oscar-winning composer shared in a statement on Saturday. “As my friends and family know, he has been fighting gastric cancer for the last 18 months and Nick is now hospitalised.”

Nicholas is a Grammy-nominated composer and record producer, most known for scoring the BBC One series Love, Lies and Records, as well as the film The Last Bus and short Mr Invisible. He also co-produced the original cast album for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella in 2021, which landed him a Grammy nom for best musical theater album.

“We are all praying that Nick will turn the corner,” Andrew continued in his statement. “He is bravely fighting with his indomitable humour, but at the moment my place is with him and the family.”

Andrew was also set to attend the opening night of the Broadway musical Bad Cinderella, which he composed, on Thursday at the Imperial Theatre, but the composer, said, “I will not be able to cheer on its wonderful cast, crew and orchestra on Opening Night.” He also clarified that his son’s illness was the reason he has “not been able to attend the recent previews” of the musical.

Bad Cinderella, which was retitled from the original Cinderella that played the West End from 2021 to 2022, reimagines the classic fairytale through the lens of beauty standards and features a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emerald Fennel.