You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
