The composer Andrew Lloyd Webber said he was “shattered” Saturday afternoon, as he announced his elder son Nick, 43, had died a few hours earlier at the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke, U.K. The family was “totally bereft,” Lloyd Webber added in a statement, which read in full: “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. Thank you for all your thoughts during this difficult time.”

Last week, Lloyd Webber said he would not be attending the opening of his latest Broadway musical Bad Cinderella this past Thursday because of Nick’s condition, saying he was “absolutely devastated to say that my eldest son Nick is critically ill. As my friends and family know, he has been fighting gastric cancer for the last 18 months and Nick is now hospitalized. I therefore have not been able to attend the recent previews of Bad Cinderella and as things stand, I will not be able to cheer on its wonderful cast, crew and orchestra on opening night this Thursday. We are all praying that Nick will turn the corner. He is bravely fighting with his indomitable humor, but at the moment my place is with him and the family.”