You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, 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 was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
