You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought 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 terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
