You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
