You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. 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 rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career starring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
