You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
