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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees