You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
