You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
