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You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers 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 physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. 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 considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio the group while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees