You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates 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, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful 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 walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
