America’s Got Talent frequently has contestants who capture viewer attention with their personal stories, and that was especially true for singer Jane Marczewski, who went by Nightbirde. Unfortunately, the phenomenal talent lost her battle with cancer, and has now died at the age of 31.
According to TMZ, Nightbirde died on Sunday after months of cancer treatments to fight the disease, which had spread to her spine, lungs, and liver. Nightbirde had originally been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, and while she survived after treatments, it later returned after metastasizing, meaning that it had then spread to other parts of her body. Just a couple of years later, she had been given only a 2% chance of survival by her doctors, with them saying her life expectancy was only three to six months. She was cancer-free again in 2020, which was celebratory, but only for a short time, as it returned yet again in 2021.
Fans will likely remember that Nightbirde wowed the crowd and judges at her AGT Season 16 audition, quickly earning Simon Cowell’s golden buzzer for her performance of her original song, “It’s Okay.” She also got a standing ovation, and was quickly presumed to be one of the contestants to beat in the finale, but by early August of 2021, she had to withdraw from the competition because of her worsening health.
Upon hearing the sad news of Nightbirde's passing, America’s Got Talent host, Terry Crews, took to Instagram to offer his condolences to her loved ones, saying:
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 ⚡️
Fans can watch that Golden Buzzer-earning performance in the video below, which is as good an example of any of Jane Marczewski's talents.
Following her untimely exit from Season 16, and during that season's two-part finale, Simon Cowell gave viewers an update on Nightbirde's condition at the time, saying that she'd called him that day to reflect on bowing out of the show. It was one that they made together, according to Cowell, as the stress of competing likely would have been too much for her to handle. Even though he still believed she had what it took to go forward to earn the win for the whole season, and said he thought she did as well, it was still considered to be a good idea for her to have stepped back to focus on her health.
America's Got Talent: Extreme is starting up on NBC on Monday, February 21, so it's possible the producers will see to it that an R.I.P. placard airs after the episode to honor Nightbirde's brief but memorable connection to the show and its fandom.
We here at CinemaBlend send our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Nightbirde during their time of mourning.
