You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
