You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful 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 scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
