You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk 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, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
