You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! 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.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
