Australian singer Nick Cave has confirmed the death of his son Jethro at the age of 31.

The Bad Seeds musician, known for hits such as Into My Arms and One More Time With Feeling, said his son had “passed away”.

In a statement, the frontman said: “With much sadness, I can confirm that my son, Jethro, has passed away.

“We would be grateful for family privacy at this time.”

Jethro Lazenby was Cave’s son with Beau Lazenby. Ms Lazenby is a former model who lives in Melbourne.

Cave’s wife Susie paid tribute to Lazenby with a simple Instagram post on Tuesday morning:

“Darling Jethro,” she wrote.

Fashion model, rapper, actor and photographer Lazenby was born in Melbourne in 1991. He was the eldest of Cave’s four children, all boys.

One of Cave’s twin sons with his current wife Susie Cave died in an accidental fall from a cliff near Brighton, England, in 2015. Arthur Cave had taken LSD before he fell.

Jethro Lazenby, who used the name Jethro Cave to help his modelling career, died in Melbourne after he was released from prison last week. Details of his death have not been revealed.

He had been in custody since shortly after he assaulted his mother during an argument in her Melbourne home on March 7 and left her bruised and bleeding, the Herald Sun reported.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful assault and to breaching court orders. He was released from a remand prison on strict bail conditions on Thursday.

A magistrate ordered him to undergo substance abuse treatment and to avoid contact with his mother for two years. He was to return to court in June to be sentenced for the assault and for stealing from a convenience store.

He had been imprisoned in 2018 for assaulting a girlfriend.

His lawyer told a magistrate last month that his client had a longstanding diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Lazenby told London’s Evening Standard newspaper in 2012 that he was seven or eight when he first met his famous father.

Cave told The Guardian in 2008 he would always regret his lack of contact with his son in early childhood.

“But I now have a great relationship with him,” Cave said.

“It was difficult at the time, but it turned out great in the end.”

Lazenby is survived by a younger half-brother Luke Cave, also born in 1991.

The musician’s second child, only days younger than his first, was born in Brazil to his then-wife Viviane Carneiro, a Brazilian fashion designer and journalist.

Lazenby is also survived by half-brother Earl Cave, Arthur’s twin. The twins were born in 2000.

-with AAP