You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
