You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing 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?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ 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 considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! 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 familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
