You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient 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 no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘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. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
