Kat Janis, a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released an upbeat pop track from hospice that moved thousands of her supporters online and inspired them to dance even in the face of tragedy, died Wednesday in Annandale, Died at his family home in VA. .She was 31 years old.
The cause, said his brother William Ipson, was sarcoma.
Kat Janis, whose legal name was Kathryn Ipson, began writing music as a teenager and released it at age 20. But “Dance You Outta My Head”, which she shared on social media with a candid discussion of her grueling cancer treatment, soon became the biggest hit of her career. Over disco-inflected guitar and exuberant strings, she sang about “dancing on the edge of disaster”.
Ms. Ipson released the song on January 19, a few days after entering hospice care. As the outlook for his health worsened, the song caught fire, with social media users – including celebrities like fellow singer Jason Derulo – leaving messages of support.
It became a common soundtrack on TikTok after Ms Ipson encouraged her followers to stream the song as a way to support her 7-year-old son Loren following his death. “I’m leaving this song for my son,” she wrote on TikTok. In another post, she said she had “turned over all the rights to my songs, so that every save and every stream goes to Lorraine.”
The song has been used in over two million TikTok videos and became the singer’s first song to enter the Billboard charts.
“I’m praying my story isn’t over yet,” she wrote in a post on her birthday, the day after the song’s release. “But if that’s the case, it’s a pretty incredible way to say goodbye.”
Katherine Janice Ipson was born on 20 January 1993. To Michael and Stacey Ipson, outside Washington, DC. One of four children from a musical family, she played violin and piano, while her brother sometimes accompanied her on drums. Their mother, Stacey Ipson, was a radio DJ who instilled a love of music in her children, with her brother saying in an interview: “We would sing every song for the Eagles and the Beatles and all the old ones.”
According to her brother, Ms. Ipson was also a science major and studied geology at George Mason University before working as a geospatial analyst. But songwriting remained her outlet, she said: “If she’s stressed or something, she’ll do music.”
In 2022 he was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer which he first noticed as a lump in his neck. She underwent surgery and more than a dozen rounds of chemotherapy, her brother said. He posted personal updates on TikTok, including videos of him shaving his head and writing music during treatment. They released an album, “Modern Medicine”, in July 2023.
Her husband, Kyle Higginbottom, also a musician, said, “Kat is always sharing what she’s up to.” “It just so happened that he had cancer last year.”
He continued to perform at Washington area venues during treatment, sometimes with Mr. Higginbottom, who remembered taking him to chemo rounds and then playing a show with him the very next day. They got engaged on stage at her album release show in August and were married in December.
Mr. Ipson said, he began writing “Dance You Outta My Head” while in the car with his son over the summer. She sent a demo to Austin Bello, a producer with whom she had worked for over seven years, and asked him to mix the track.
“What always impressed me was the clarity of his edits,” Mr. Bello said. He offered an example of one of her notes: “At one minute and 22 seconds, lower the harmonies by 2.2 dB.”
In addition to her brother, Ms. Ipson’s survivors include her parents and a sister, Meredith Ipson.
Mr. Ipson said the success of “Dance You Outta My Head” was gratifying but also sad. “She’s happy that she’s been doing music for so long and that she’s getting the appreciation she deserves,” he said. But supportive messages from fans did not erase her disappointment that she might never get the chance to go on a major tour or attend the Grammy Awards.
He spent his final weeks at his family home in Annandale, baking bread and getting matching tattoos with family members. Her husband and son would often sit near her and play beats on an electronic drum pad. When she felt strong enough, she hummed.
Mr Higginbottom said he hoped his wife’s musical career would be remembered as more than a “soak story”.
He said, “It’s not like that some girl made a song because she is dying of cancer.” “Kat is a real artist and has poured every minute of her life into this, right up to the end.”
