You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
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 bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. 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 the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined 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 ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
