You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
