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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. 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 day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees