You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
