You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
