You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, 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, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
