You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ 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, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ 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 found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
