You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just marched 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. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (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 vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
