You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). 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 irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
