You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing 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 says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
