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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was planning an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought 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 frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees