You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
