‘It has pushed me to live more fully’: Jessie J on cancer, comebacks and cracking China

You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, 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 hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees