You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist 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 disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘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?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
