You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
