You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly 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.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness 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 girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
