You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, 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 replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
