You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album 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 join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
