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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; 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 rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

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

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, 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 throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

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