You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“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 assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
