You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. 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.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
