You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. 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 long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
