You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
