Former child star Nathan Cavaleri makes a very rare TV appearance

Former guitar prodigy Nathan Cavaleri was a household name in the early 1990s.

And the now-38-year-old made a rare television appearance on Monday, speaking about his childhood fame and battle with leukaemia.

Nathan, who is about to release his first solo album in 26 years, said on The Morning Show that his memories are a bit of a blur these days.

‘It was quite a blur. When I was diagnosed with leukaemia I was lucky enough to be granted a wish by the Starlight Foundation to meet Mark Knopfler,’ he began. 

‘It all just kind of snowballed from there. I went on the road with Jimmy and Diesel and then got taken to the States and spent a lot of time there.’ 

Nathan had secured a recording contract with Michael Jackson by the age of 12, and toured alongside legendary jazz musician B.B. King. 

Nathan also did the rounds of the American late night shows.

Looking back on this time, he said: ‘I had some pretty epic experiences, but I didn’t take the time to reflect on [them] until much later in life.’ 

Despite these great experiences, things took a turn for the worse when he began experiencing mental health issues in his late twenties.

‘I found myself dealing with mental health challenges,’ he said. 

‘Things that I didn’t even know existed. And because of my lack of education to deal with those challenges, it ended up corrupting so many areas of my life.’ 

He added: ‘It ended up corrupting that one place I thought I was untouchable, which was the stage, which was my cue to just step away.’ 

Nathan said he not only struggled with performing, but also had difficultly dealing with everyday situations, like spending time with friends. 

‘While at that time it felt like a battle… it was an awakening,’ he said. 

‘It taught me so much about myself and now I have a completely different understanding on what adversity is.’ 

He added: ‘When I think about my years growing up, adversity has been my biggest teacher and most of my growth has happened on the other side of that.’ 

Nathan is about to release his first solo album in 26 years, and acknowledges that making it has been part of a healing journey. 

‘These songs, I wrote them when I wasn’t intending on returning to music. When music became about self expression and not career goals and what people might think,’ he said.