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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

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

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees