You can’t imagine 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 struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
