You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
