Jazz guitarist Rotem Sivan is grieving the loss of his 19‑month‑old son, Eden, who died after a fierce fight with brain cancer. The musician, known for his lyrical playing and intimate compositions, shared that his toddler’s death came just over a year after doctors first found a rare and aggressive tumor. In public tributes, he has described doing everything possible to save his child while trying to hold on to the joy Eden brought into their home.
Sivan and his wife, Lore, had welcomed twins and were settling into life as a family of four when Eden’s illness suddenly took over their world. What began as a musical love letter to his children turned into a soundtrack for hospital corridors, chemotherapy sessions, and, eventually, heartbreaking goodbyes. Now, the guitarist is opening up about that journey, honoring his son’s short life and the community that rallied around them.
The heartbreaking announcement
The news of Eden’s death first reached many fans through a raw and simple message from Rotem Sivan on Instagram. In the post, he shared that his son had died at 19 months old after a long battle with brain cancer, pairing the words with images that made clear how central the little boy had become to his life. There was no polished statement, just a grieving father speaking directly to the people who had followed Eden’s story from the beginning.
In a more detailed reflection, Sivan explained that Eden’s death came a little more than a year after doctors diagnosed him with an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, often shortened to ATRT, a rare and aggressive brain cancer that primarily affects very young children. He said that he and Lore had “done everything we could to save him,” describing a stretch of months defined by surgeries, chemotherapy, and constant vigilance as they tried to give their son as much time and comfort as possible, a journey he later expanded on in an exclusive interview.
A rare diagnosis that changed everything
Before Eden’s illness, Sivan’s life was already deeply intertwined with sound, and he often talked about how “sound and music is connected to life” for him. When he and Lore learned they were expecting twins, he began writing an album as a kind of musical diary for his children, a project that initially captured the everyday joys of new parenthood. That work took on a very different meaning once doctors discovered that one of the twins had a serious brain tumor, a shift he later described while reflecting on how the music became a source of strength during Eden’s treatment, as detailed in a previous profile.
The turning point came after an MRI, when doctors sat Rotem and Lore down and explained that Eden had a tumor in the part of the brain that controls basic body functions. The couple were told their son was facing ATRT, a diagnosis that instantly shifted their focus from everyday milestones to survival. That conversation, described in detail in coverage of the family’s journey, captured the moment when their world narrowed to hospital rooms and treatment plans, as recounted in a follow‑up interview about “After the MRI” and the diagnosis that followed.
Inside Eden’s fight with ATRT
Once the diagnosis was clear, Eden’s medical team moved quickly, and surgeons performed a complex operation to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Thankfully, the surgery was described as very successful, with the tumor nearly completely removed and later classified as an “incredibly aggressive” growth that targeted about 90% of dividing cells in his body. That early progress gave the family a brief window of hope, a moment captured in reporting that detailed how the surgery changed the outlook, even as everyone understood the road ahead would be long.
From there, Eden began intensive chemotherapy, entering multiple rounds that tested both his tiny body and his parents’ endurance. Earlier in the treatment, Sivan shared that Eden was in round 2 of chemo but still managing to smile, thanking friends and strangers for their encouragement and saying that “thoughts and prayers” were landing on him and his family in a very real way. In that same update, he tried to reassure supporters that “everything’s gonna be quite alright,” a line that appeared in a heartfelt video that showed Eden’s resilience even as the treatments intensified.
Music, family, and a life built around Eden
Professionally, Sivan had been riding a creative high, recording his album “Heart Thieves” with a band that leaned into his melodic, exploratory style. Just weeks after “Heart Thieves” was recorded, however, he and Lore were confronted with the unthinkable news about Eden’s health, a collision of career momentum and personal crisis that reshaped his priorities overnight. In later reflections, he talked about how the project, which had started as a celebration of love and connection, suddenly felt like a document of a life that was already changing, a shift described in a feature on Heart Thieves and the family story behind it.
Through it all, Sivan kept returning to the idea that his deepest goal was simple, to have a family and keep it close. That meant juggling gigs, recording sessions, and hospital visits, often with a guitar never far from reach, so he could play for Eden and his twin in quieter moments. The music that had once been about career milestones became a way to soothe his children and himself, a private language that helped them hold on to normalcy even as their days revolved around treatments and medical updates.
Sharing grief and raising awareness
As news of Eden’s death spread, more details of his illness and the nature of ATRT surfaced in follow‑up coverage. One report noted that Eden died at 19 months old, just over a year after his ATRT diagnosis, underscoring how quickly the disease can move even when families pursue aggressive treatment. That same coverage highlighted how Sivan and Lore had leaned on a growing online community that had followed Eden’s story from the first diagnosis through every scan and setback, a community that first learned of the loss through the news of his passing.
In a separate piece that touched on Sivan’s announcement, a summary of entertainment news noted that Rotem Sivan had shared the news in an Instagram story post, confirming that his son Eden had died at 19 months. That report placed his message alongside other celebrity updates, but the core detail was the same, a father using Instagram to share the most painful news of his life. The coverage helped amplify Eden’s story beyond the jazz world, bringing more attention to the realities of pediatric brain cancer and the families who face it.
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