You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly 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
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
