You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
