You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
