You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. 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 many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (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 tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
