‘It has pushed me to live more fully’: Jessie J on cancer, comebacks and conquering the Chinese market

You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged 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 fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees