You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
