You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out 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 …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. 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.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
