You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought 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 are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “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 collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
