You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
She was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
