You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
