You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots 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 respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “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.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career starring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
