🔗 Share this article

You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was planning an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought 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 dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. 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. “Cancer sucks, man, 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.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees