You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ 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, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. 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 difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, 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 was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
