You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and no new music. 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 log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just walked 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 blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
