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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the crowd.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees