You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis 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, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
