You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt 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. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
