You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (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 rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
