You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ 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 good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
