You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning featuring 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 Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
