You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was cast 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 dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
