You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with 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 West End in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
