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You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought 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 fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

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