You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched 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 lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. 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 accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. 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 twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
