Albums: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, The Best Of, Murder Ballads

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was originally formed in 1984 by two former members of the Australian band The Birthday Party: Nick Cave (vocals, songwriter, keyboards, harmonica) and multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey. They were joined by Einstürzende Neubauten member Blixa Bargeld (guitar), Hugo Race (guitar), and former Magazine member Barry Adamson (bass, piano). Cave's former girlfriend Anita Lane was also a creative influence and occasional lyricist.

This line-up recorded their debut album, From Her To Eternity, released in 1984. During their initial Australian tour, Birthday Party bass guitarist Tracy Pew also performed with the band. The name of the new project indicated the shift in Cave's role from band member, as in The Birthday Party, to band leader, and coincided with his shift in songwriting style from expressionism to detailed lyrical narrative.

The group has been through many personnel changes, with Cave and Harvey remaining the constants. Cave separated from Lane in the mid-1980s and began a relationship with Elisabeth Recker. While in Berlin, he released four albums with the Bad Seeds: The Firstborn Is Dead; Kicking Against the Pricks; Your Funeral...My Trial; and Tender Prey.

Kicking Against the Pricks was the first album to feature the drumming of Swiss Thomas Wydler, who is the longest serving member in the band beside Cave and Mick Harvey. In 1987, the Bad Seeds made an appearance in the Wim Wenders film, Wings of Desire. In 1990, the band collectively eliminated hard drugs from its diet, relocated to Brazil, and released The Good Son.

Their next record, 1992's Henry's Dream, was the first to feature current members Martyn P. Casey and Conway Savage. Following it came 1994's Let Love In.

In 1996, Cave and the Bad Seeds released Murder Ballads. It includes Henry Lee, a duet with British rock singer PJ Harvey (with whom Cave had a brief relationship), and Where the Wild Roses Grow, a duet with Australian pop idol Kylie Minogue. The latter was a mainstream hit in the UK and in Australia, winning three ARIA Awards including "Song of the Year".

Their next album, The Boatman's Call (1997), is marked by a radical shift away from archetypal and violent narratives to biographical and confessional songs about his relationships with Carneiro and Harvey. It was also his first full album to be centered around his own piano playing. Cave then took a short break to rehabilitate from his 20 years of heroin and alcohol abuse, during which time he married.

The band resurfaced with No More Shall We Part in 2001. After the release of the 2003 album Nocturama, which failed to excite reviewers, Bargeld announced he was leaving the Bad Seeds to devote more time to Einstürzende Neubauten, leaving Mick Harvey as the only original member still in the band, other than Cave himself. The next year Cave released his first double record - the acclaimed two-disc set Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus.

In 2005, Cave and the Seeds released B-Sides and Rarities, a three-disc, 56-track collection of B-sides, rarities and tracks that had appeared on film soundtracks. In October 2007 Cave was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. During his acceptance speech he cheekily took it upon himself to also induct the Australian members of the Bad Seeds (excluding Hugo Race), plus the members of The Birthday Party (excluding Phill Calvert).

In March 2008, the band released their 14th studio album, titled Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, inspired by the Biblical story of the resurrection of Lazarus of Bethany by Jesus Christ. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds also released an exclusive "Live Session" EP through iTunes in April 2008, recorded at the legendary Air studios on 2nd March as part of iTunes' "Live From London" series. Despite initial reports that the Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!tour would exclude North American venues, it was reported on April 29, 2008 that the band will be playing dates across the United States and Canada in Fall of 2008.

On the 22nd of January 2009, Mick Harvey announced on the band's web page that he will now longer be part of The Bad Seeds. Besides his performances with the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave also leads a side-project called Grinderman. Grinderman performs live and records albums with Cave on piano, Ellis on violin and a fluctuating bass/drums line-up.

The current quartet includes Bad Seeds' Martyn P. Casey, Jim Sclavunos and Warren Ellis; as the project includes so many Bad Seeds members it is therefore sometimes referred to as "Mini-Seeds". Current line-up is: Nick Cave - vocals, piano, organ, harmonica, percussion, electric guitar, string arrangements (1984-) Thomas Wydler - drums, percussion, vocals (1987—) Martyn P.

Casey - bass, vocals (1991—) Conway Savage - piano, organ, vocals (1991—) Warren Ellis - violin, fender mandocaster, loops, mandolin, tenor guitar, viola, bouzouki, accordion, flute, lute, piano, programming, percussion, string arrangements, vocals (1994—) Jim Sclavunos - percussion, drums, organ, melodica, vocals (1996—) James Johnston - organ, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals (2003—) Past members, guest and touring musicians: Mick Harvey - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, organ, percussion, piano, loops, string arrangements, vocals (1984-2009) Blixa Bargeld - electric guitar, slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, vocals (1984–2003); original member who quit after almost 20 years Anita Lane - lyrics (1984) Barry Adamson - bass, electric guitar, drums, organ, piano, percussion, vocals (1984-1986) Hugo Race - electric guitar, vocals (1984) Rowland S. Howard - electric guitar, organ, vocals Tracy Pew (deceased) - bass Kid Congo Powers - electric guitar, slide guitar (1986-1989) Roland Wolf (deceased) - piano, organ, electric guitar, vocals (1986-1989)

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