You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold 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 enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just walked 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 blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
