You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge 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 living her best life, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
