You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. 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 ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
