You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project 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 fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
