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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

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