You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
