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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! 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.”

Past Medical Issues

She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”

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