You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
