You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my 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 the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
