You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called the track 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.
We’re at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently 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. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
