You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe 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 picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling 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 specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now looks like 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 observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse 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 jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
