You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
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. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ 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 suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
