🔗 Share this article

You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.

The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees