You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. 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 frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
