You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. 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 positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
