You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
