You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall 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; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
