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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer 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 be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”

Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees