You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after 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 the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
