You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
