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You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees