You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered 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. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“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 jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
