You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles 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 weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically 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.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has joined the trio the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
