‘It has taught me to embrace life more’: Jessie J on cancer, career returns and conquering the Chinese market

You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies 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 grins. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”

Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees