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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

She was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. 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 a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End 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 vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the trio the group while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”

Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees