You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
