You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling 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, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think 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 movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
