You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
