You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album 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 join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, 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 obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, 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 voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
