You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free 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 fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
