You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing 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 thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done 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 attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
