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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, 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 perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees