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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly 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.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ 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 beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 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 am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees