You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
