You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ 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 photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ 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?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
