You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
