You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture 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 film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. 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 viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
