You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
