You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great 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 considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
