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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my 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 assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

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

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees