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 newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later 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 living with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time 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, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! 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.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees