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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined 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 about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”

Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees