You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial 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 terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown 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. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut performing in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
