You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style 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 movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
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. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “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 larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
