You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought 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, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album 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 log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial 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. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning 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 medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
