You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align 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.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. 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 was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
