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You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.

The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, 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 ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, 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 couldn’t sing for a long period.”

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