You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘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 informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
