You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. 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 launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
