You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. 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.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ 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 found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
