You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ 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 considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, 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 difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
