You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
