You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get 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 bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
