You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits 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 the group while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
