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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

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