You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
