You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ 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 frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, 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 obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
