You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
