You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
