You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem 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 intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
