You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
