You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
