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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The artist, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees