Singer Opens Up About Breast Cancer Journey
“I pissed a lot of people off,” the singer said about her decision to delay surgery to play a concert.
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“Bang Bang” singer Jessie J, 37, has been center stage this year not just for her performances, but because she’s sharing her journey with breast cancer with the public.
The English singer-songwriter, responsible for co-writing hits like “Party in the U.S.A.” and “Price Tag,” was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in March of this year. She announced her diagnosis to the public in June on social media, explaining that she was inspired to seek a biopsy after feeling a lump in her breast and experiencing aching in her arm.
(Aching arms and armpits can be a sign of lymph node swelling that is associated with breast cancer. )
The singer, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, subsequently underwent a mastectomy on her right breast. And in a new interview with Women’s Health Magazine UK about the internal quandary she faced when she chose to delay that surgery in order to perform during a concert at Wembley Stadium in London.
“I pissed off a lot of people by postponing my surgery to do that show,” she told the magazine. But she explained that she felt missing the gig would have impacted her more personally.
It’s a dilemma faced by many with cancer: prioritize treatment or prioritize keeping your life as normal as possible.
“We’re not handcuffed to having to sit down and be quiet and cry because we’ve got cancer. I’m going to sing ‘Bang Bang’ as loud as I can,” she said, adding that she took inspiration from her fans’ support: “There were 80,000 people cheering not because I could sing well or wore an outfit they liked. It was: we love you, we’re behind you and we hope this goes well.”
Jessie J performs for the first time since cancer surgery.
Katja Ogrin/Katja Ogrin/Getty Images
Cornish currently has a “stand-in” implant, but she told the magazine she’s not in a rush to get back to the operating room now that it’s cosmetic and not for life-saving measures.
She revealed in October that her doctor had postponed her second breast surgery because it was more complex than anticipated.
Cornish also underlines how lucky she was that her cancer was found at such an early stage and shared her hope that her public story inspires other women to get their breasts checked.
So far, it seems like it’s working: “I hear all the time from people who say that a friend checked her breasts after seeing me talking about it,” she told the magazine.