You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? 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 childhood, already making her debut performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
