TikTok singer Cat Janis has died at the age of 31.
The singer, whose real name is Katherine Ypsan, shot to fame in January this year when she released “Dance You Outta My Head” four days after being admitted to hospice care.
Janice's family announced in a statement on her Instagram page that she passed away on Thursday (February 29) at her childhood home surrounded by her family.
They thanked her supporters and said they were “forever grateful for the outpouring of love.”
The virus star was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare bone or soft tissue cancer, in March 2022.
She kept her 1.9 million social media followers updated on her journey and after months of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, she was told she was cancer-free. However, she was told in June last year that her disease had returned in her lungs.
“Dance You Outta My Head” became an overnight success, racking up over 60 million views on TikTok to date. The song topped the TikTok Billboard Top 50 and also reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Dance & Electronic Chart.
In the caption of a video shot from a hospital bed wearing an oxygen mask and hospital gown, the singer said on January 7:
“Thank you for loving me. I pray that a miracle will get us through this situation, but I feel called home,” she wrote.
“Love yourself and be kind to others. I hope you can get through this, but if not, good night.”
The singer said it would be a “last joy” for her fans to be able to stream her songs and donate the proceeds to her seven-year-old son Lauren, to whom she transferred the rights to her music.
In announcing Janice's death, her family said that the success of her music came as a surprise to her.
“Kat has seen her music go places she never expected, and she rests in the peace of mind that she will continue to provide for her son through music,” they wrote.
In one of her final messages on social media, the singer said: She has been fighting hard, but her sarcoma is too strong. I reset all of her own music to give to her son. ”
She explained that her tumor “basically tripled in size overnight,” but that she wanted the final song to be “something that brings joy and fun.”
She added: “That's all I wanted through my battle with cancer.”
Janice's husband, Kyle Higginbotham, said he hopes her career will be remembered as more than just a “sob story.”
“It's not just something. I wrote the song because a girl was dying of cancer,” he said. new york times. “Kat was a true artist who gave his whole life to the very end.”
