You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
