You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. 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 avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
