You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands 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 specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy 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 next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
