‘It has made me live life more’: Jessie J on her health battle, comebacks and conquering the Chinese market

You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored 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 found to have breast cancer.

The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

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