You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
