You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
