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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped 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 giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on 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 fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees