You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. 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 optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). 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 palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
