You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! 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 no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
