You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
