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You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

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

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees