You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, 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 throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
