You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
