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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.

The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought 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 considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! 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

She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”

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