You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ 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 terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because 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.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career performing in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep 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 the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
