Jewish Teenager Who Covered Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’ Dies of Brain Cancer
(JTA) Olivia Wise, the Jewish teenager from Toronto whose cover of Katy Perry’s “Roar” became a viral hit, died of brain cancer on Monday, CNN reports. She was 16.
Wise made the moving recording in September after learning her condition was untreatable. She was wheelchair-bound, unable to stand or walk, but her spirit was evident nonetheless.
The video touched many — including Perry, who shot back a video message of her own. “I love you, a lot of people love you, that’s why your video got to me,” Perry said. “And it moved everyone who saw it.”
Perry responded to Wise’s death late Monday night. “Olivia Wise, I can hear you singing with the angels now,” the pop star tweeted. “Your spirit & strength has inspired me & so many others… May you rest in peace.”
Olivia Wise, I can hear you singing with the angels now. Your spirit & strength has inspired me & so many others… May you rest in peace.
ampmdash; Katy Perry (@katyperry) November 26, 2013
Named in her honor, the Liv Wise Fund has so far raised over $90,000 in support of brain tumor research. You can make a donation here.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 3
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture A pocket guide to the Jewish grandmothers of Mexico
-
Opinion I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore
-
Fast Forward Police clash with pro-Palestinian protesters in Brooklyn as Columbia library takeover fallout continues
-
Opinion This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.