You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune 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 she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, 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.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
