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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought 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 frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”

Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees