You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ 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 she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo 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 half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
