You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
