You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
