You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great 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 frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue 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 jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while studying at 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 collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
