You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
