You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “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…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was 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 Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
