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You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment 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 dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.

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

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”

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