You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s 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 fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking 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 biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
