You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, 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 ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
