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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying 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 facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted 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