You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. 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.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
