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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees