You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
