DC alt-pop artist Cat Janice, whose music went viral while she was in hospice, died Wednesday, according to her family.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley remembers Cat Janice (Part 1)
D.C. alt-pop artist Cat Janice, whose music went viral while she was in hospice, died Wednesday, according to her family.
“This morning, from her childhood home and surrounded by her loving family, Catherine peacefully entered the light and love of her heavenly creator,” her family posted on Instagram. She was 31 years old.
Janice was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma in 2022. She released her final song from hospice on Jan. 19, arranging all proceeds of every download and stream of the song to benefit her 7-year-old son, Loren.
As her story got picked up by national news outlets, the song “Dance You Outta My Head” became a phenomenon, reaching No. 11 on Billboard’s Digital Sales and cracking the Top 40 of Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic chart by the end of January. It currently has over 56 million views on TikTok and nearly 13 million streams on Spotify.
Born Catherine Janice Ipsan to a music-loving family in Northern Virginia, Cat took to violin and piano at an early age, sparking 18 years of classical training in orchestral productions, jazz bands and theater shows.
The D.C. music scene soon embraced her as a local pop force as Janice started releasing her own music in 2015, experimenting in the Southern rock, indie rock and pop genres before finding her way into songwriting.
As her family wrote on Instagram: “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.”
WTOP’s Jason Fraley remembers Cat Janice (Part 2)
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