Cat Janice, a singer and songwriter who released a lilting pop song from Hospice that caused her thousands of supporters online to sway and even rock in the face of the tragedy, died Wednesday at her family's home in Annandale, Virginia. She was 31 years old.
According to William Ipsan, her brother, the cause was sarcoma.
The singer and multi-instrumentalist, whose legal name was Catherine Ipsan, began writing music as a teenager and released it at the age of 20. But “Dance You Outta My Head,” which she shared on social media while also opening up about her grueling cancer treatments, quickly became the biggest hit of her career. Over disco guitar and exuberant strings, she sang about “dancing on the edge of catastrophe.”
Ms Ipsan released the song on January 19, a few days after entering hospice care. The song went into uproar as her health outlook worsened and social media users – including celebrities like Jason Derulo – left messages of support.
It became a popular soundtrack on TikTok after Ms Ipsan encouraged her followers to stream the song to support her 7-year-old son Loren following his death. “I leave this song for my son,” she wrote on TikTok. In another post, she said she “changed all rights to my songs so every presave and stream goes to Loren.”
The song has been used in more than two million TikTok videos and was the singer's first song to hit the Billboard charts.
“I pray my story isn't over yet,” she wrote in a post on her birthday, a day after the song's release. “But if so, that’s a pretty incredible way to say goodbye.”
Catherine Janice Ipsan was born on January 20, 1993, one of four children in a musical family outside Washington, D.C. She played the violin and piano, while her brother sometimes accompanied her on drums. Her mother was a radio DJ who instilled a love of music in her children. Mr Ipsan, 27, said in an interview this month: “We would sing every lyric to the Eagles, the Beatles and all the oldies.”
According to her brother, Ms. Ipsan was also a science nerd who studied geology at George Mason University before working as a geoanalyst. But writing songs remained her outlet, he said. “When she’s stressed or something, she goes and plays music.”
In 2022, she was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that she initially noticed as a lump in her neck. She underwent surgery and more than a dozen rounds of chemotherapy, her brother said. She posted personal updates on TikTok, including videos of herself shaving her head and writing music during treatment. In July 2023, she released an album titled “Modern Medicine.”
“Cat is always talking about what she’s doing,” said her husband Kyle Higginbotham, 36, also a musician. “Coincidentally, she had cancer last year.”
During treatment, she continued to perform at Washington-area venues, sometimes with Mr. Higginbotham, who recalled taking his wife for rounds of chemotherapy and playing a show with her the next day. They got engaged onstage at her album release show in August and married in December.
She began writing “Dance You Outta My Head” in the summer while sitting in the car with Loren, Mr. Ipsan said. She sent a demo to Austin Bello, a producer she had worked with for more than seven years, and asked him to mix the track.
“What always impressed me was the clarity with which her edits came together,” Mr. Bello said, citing one of her notes as an example: “At one minute and 22 seconds, turn down the harmonies by 2.2 dB.”
The success of “Dance You Outta My Head” was gratifying but also painful, Mr. Ipsan said. “She’s happy that she’s been making music for so long and that she’s getting the recognition she deserves,” he said. But the many supportive messages from fans didn't erase her disappointment that she would likely never go on a headlining tour or attend the Grammy Awards.
She spent her final weeks at her family's home in Annandale, where she baked bread and got matching tattoos with family members. Mr. Higginbotham and Loren often sat by her side making beats on electronic drum pads. When she felt strong enough, she hummed.
Mr Higginbotham said he hoped his wife's music career would be remembered as more than just a “sob story”.
“It's not just that some girl made a song because she's dying of cancer,” he said. “Cat is a true artist and put every minute of her life into it, right up until the end.”