You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘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 goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees