‘It has made me live life more’: Jessie J on cancer, career returns and cracking China

You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered 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 planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees