You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, 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 rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band the group while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
