You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, 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; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
