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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band the group while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees