You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes 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 [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees