You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ 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 says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
