You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. 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 considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
