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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was getting ready for an performance 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; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “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 voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

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