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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great 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 dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, 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 OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (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 tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees