You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, 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 perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
