You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, 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 hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
