You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
