America's Got Talent breakout Nightbirde dies at 31 after cancer battle

Nightbirde, a breakout America's Got Talent contestant on season 16, has died after a battle with cancer, per PEOPLE. She was 31.

Host Terry Crews remembered the singer-songwriter, born Jane Marczewski, in an Instagram post shared Monday.

"We are saddened to learn about @_nightbirde's Passing," Crews wrote. "Our Condolences goes to her Closest Family & Friends [during this] difficult time. We Love you, Nightbirde."

Judge Howie Mandel called the artist a "bright inspirational light" on Twitter, adding, "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 to have met, heard and known her."

EW has reached out to a rep for AGT for comment.

Nightbirde appeared as a contestant on the NBC talent competition series last year, performing a stunning rendition of an original song, "It's Okay," in an audition that moved judges Mandel, Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, and Heidi Klum to tears. The ballad chronicled her battle with cancer that lingered in her lungs, spine, and liver.

Nightbirde told the judges she had a "2 percent chance of survival," adding, "But 2 percent isn't 0 percent. 2 percent is something and I wish people knew how amazing it is." The Zanesville, Ohio native added that "it's important that everyone knows that I'm so much more than the bad things that happen to me."

Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Nightbirde on 'America's Got Talent'

The performance garnered high praise from the generally-critical Cowell, who hit the Golden Buzzer and sent Nightbirde to the final live shows. Two months later, Nightbirde bowed out of the competition to focus on treatment.

"Since my audition, my health has taken a turn for the worse and the fight with cancer is demanding all of my energy and attention," she shared on Instagram in August 2021. "I am so sad to announce that I won't be able to continue forward on this season of AGT. Life doesn't always give breaks to those that deserve it — but we knew that already."

"Thank you for all your support, it means the world to me," Nightbirde continued. "Stay with me, I'll be better soon. I'm planning my future, not my legacy. Pretty beat up, but I've still got dreams."

TMZ first reported the news of Nightbirde's passing.

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