You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she 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 beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
