You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
