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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing 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 a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like 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 grins. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, 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. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, 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, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut performing 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 cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees