You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
