You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-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 she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! 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
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
