You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘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 hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly 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.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
