You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
