You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. 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 perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “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 larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
