You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture 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 picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells 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 contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
