You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
