You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘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 terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
