You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
