You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. 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 ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected 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 lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
