You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ 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.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I 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 dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. 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 year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
