You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious 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 inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ 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 viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, 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 performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
