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

You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me 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 expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees