About six months ago, Jane Marczewski was forced to withdraw from American’s Got Talent due to her exhausting battle with cancer. Now, the singer who was known as “Nightbirde” is tragically no longer with us. According to TMZ, the former AGT contestant from Ohio passed away on Sunday at the age of 31 after cancer spread to her spine, lungs, and liver.
Marczewski robbed everyone’s heart right from her first performance on AGT. Both the judges and viewers were taken by her poignant and original song, It’s Okay. Her splendid audition in June earned her a Golden Buzzer from a visibly emotional Simon Cowell, one of the judges on the show.
But less than two months later, she shocked everyone by announcing her decision to quit the show after her cancer had “taken a turn for the worse.” Speaking to former CNN host Chris Cuomo back in August about leaving the show, she revealed that her liver was “more cancer than liver” at that point.
Jane Marczewski, the America Got Talent Gold buzzer! 🏆 You fought a brave Fight. 😭! We are all going to miss you
Rest In Peace Nightbirde @_nightbirde pic.twitter.com/0m7FrIpQ3s
— SamzyPR𓃵 (@IamSamzyPR) February 21, 2022
Per Daily Mail, Marczewski was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2017. At one point, she was in remission but when it returned, it had already metastasized. In 2019, doctors gave her a 2% chance of survival, estimating that she only had three to six months. Marczewski beat the odds and was in remission when it returned for the third and final time in 2021.
Despite the heartbreaking reality, she managed to stay positive and the admirable mindset was quite evident during her CNN interview where she explained how she maned to avoid feeling “bitter” due to her “rebellious hope.” She did admit, “I have been curled up in a ball like a little cocktail shrimp having an A-plus pity party for myself, cause it’s just been a bad, bad month. It’s been really pretty devastating.” But noted, “I’m not a quitter, so it was really really hard for me to say that I couldn’t finish the show.”
“I’m planning my future, not my legacy. And some people would call that blind denial but I prefer to call that rebellious hope. And I’m not stopping any time soon,” she shared. “When we’re going through stuff like this where, really, the pain is too much to bear sometimes, it makes no sense at all. If we can hold onto a dream for the future, sometimes that’s all we need to get through.” Remembering the performer, AGT judge Howie Mandel paid her a tribute on Twitter sharing that she was “such a bright inspirational light in all our lives.”
“We must continue to live and learn from her words and lyrics. As much as I feel horribly about her passing I feel lucky to have met, heard, and known her,” he added. Judge Heidi Klum shared a picture of the late singer on her Instagram stories writing, “We love you. Rest in peace @_nightbirde.”
Even show’s host Terry Crews expressed his condolences on Instagram. “We are saddened to learn about @_nightbirde‘s Passing. Our Condolences goes to her Closest Family & Friends in such of This difficult time. We Love you, Nightbirde,” he wrote alongside a picture of Marczewski on AGT.
Cover image source: Instagram | Nightbirde
