You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
