You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs 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. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
