You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
