Cat Janice, Viral 'Dance You Outta My Head' Singer, Dead at 31
ANNANDALE, VA JANUARY 25: 31-year-old singer Cat Janice (real name Catherine Ipsan) is in hospice care at the home of her parents on January 25, 2024, in Annandale, VA. Suffering from cancer and facing the end of her life, Janice wanted to publish her last song, "Dance You Outta My Head," that began as a bonding moment with her 7-year-old. She wants the proceeds from the song to be directed to him. She raced to release the music on Jan. 19, the day before her birthday. "I did not even know if I was going to be alive when this song came out, at the time. So I just kind of did it, and now here we are," said Janice. "And honestly, it's a miracle." (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Cat Janice, born Catherine Janice Ipsan, a musician who went mega-viral on TikTok after releasing her final song "Dance You Outta My Head," has died. She was just 31.
Her family announced the sad news on her official Instagram account on Wednesday, Feb. 28, sharing that she'd passed earlier that morning in "her childhood home and surrounded by her loving family."
"We are eternally thankful for the outpouring of love that Catherine and our family have received over the past few months," the statement continued. "Cat saw her music go places she never expected and rests in the peace of knowing that she will continue to provide for her son through her music. This would not have been possible without all of you."
The singer released the track in January, a day prior to her 31st birthday, leaving the proceeds from it—along with the rest of her musical catalog—to her son, Loren, in the hopes of "giv[ing] him the boost in music he will need later in life."
As a result, she became a Billboard Charting Top 40 artist, something she celebrated on Jan. 30, and got to hear herself on the radio for the first time. Other viral creators used the song—and encouraged others to do the same—in their content to boost her visibility and increase her son's financial security.
Ipsan was battling a rare sarcoma—an umbrella term for several types of cancer that originate in the bones and/or soft tissues, according to the Mayo Clinic—and had recently entered hospice care. She was first diagnosed in March 2022, after noticing a lump in her neck in Nov. 2021.
On July 7 of the same year, she announced she was cancer-free. Unfortunately, the cancer returned, and a year later she was posting about being in chemo again.
The mother-son duo came up with "Dance You Outta My Head" while driving together last spring, with the 7-year-old penning the line "This is getting so complicated."
"I am very proud of him!" the singer told local news publication WTOP after its release. "He has taken a special interest recently in helping with new projects... He’s so intuitively creative and I pray he continues down that path in life!”
Her family thanked fans for their role in helping Ipsan continue to provide for her son even after she's gone, revealing that there's still more music to come, "per Cat's request."
"All in due time," they concluded.
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