You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; 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 said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
