You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love 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 spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream 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.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
