You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, 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 movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
