You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album 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 log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
