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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, real name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘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 bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees