You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
