You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was meant as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. 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 years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. 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 perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
