You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, 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 test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ 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 viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
