‘It has taught me to embrace life more’: Jessica Cornish on her health battle, career returns and conquering the Chinese market

You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after 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 Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, 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 obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut 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 tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”

Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees