You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, 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 No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to 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. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
