You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, 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 told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style 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, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, 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 reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
