You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great 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 dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “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 entered the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts 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 car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
