You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
