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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was planning an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.

“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, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, 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 a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. 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 hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees