You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
