Jessie J reflects on ‘death knocking at your door’ after cancer diagnosis

Jessie J has declared this year has ‘changed her whole world’ following her breast cancer diagnosis.

In June the singer, 37, revealed she’d been diagnosed with ‘early breast cancer’ a few months prior.

At the time Jessie – real name Jessica Ellen Cornish – said she was set to ‘disappear’ for a bit to undergo a mastectomy, later announcing she was forced to postpone a tour after it clashed with another surgery.

However last night she returned to the stage – performing at the Music Industry Trust Awards at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on Monday, where she spoke about her diagnosis with the audience.

‘I know I joke a lot, I love to laugh, but in all seriousness, how beautiful is it that we make music?’ she began.

‘And we share it with the world and each and every one of us plays a part in making that wheel keep turning in a world that’s ever changing.

‘All of us here are going through stuff in life that we have to carry to work and leave at home or take to work.’

She continued: ‘This year has changed my whole world. My perspective, what battles I’m going to pick, when death comes knocking at your door, and you kind of have to answer and f***ing kick it away, it just changes everything.’

During the performance, Jessie sung a string of her hits, with her set coming after Rita Ora had also taken to the stage.

Jessie’s appearance at the event comes a few days after she spoke about being left ‘frustrated’ following the postponement of a scheduled breast cancer surgery.

Last week she posted a video online telling fans that a surgery which had forced her to postpone a tour had itself been postponed.

‘Some of you may know, some of you may not know, I was supposed to have a second breast surgery two weeks ago,’ she said

‘So, a week before my surgery I went to my surgeon and we discussed my surgery and it felt a little more complex than he was anticipating and referred me to a different surgeon who I then saw, had a meeting with who said: I think this can wait a little while.

‘Obviously, I’d already cancelled my tour, so I was obviously frustrated but again it’s out of my control and two different surgeons had two different opinions.’

However, Jessie went on to share that she was trying to remain positive, adding she is now able to rebook tour dates for the United States and Canada, which are due to begin in January.

Jessie’s early diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) allowed her to avoid chemo and radiotherapy, but the large size of her tumour (5cm), required a full mastectomy.

Although she received the all-clear in August, she later said she was feeling ‘cautiously confident’ but still needed another surgery and ‘to heal’.

When revealing her diagnosis publicly, Jessie explained that while ‘cancer sucks in any form’, she was grateful it had been caught early.

Her first performance after sharing her diagnosis came in September when she hit the stage at BBC Radio 2 in the Park.

‘Eleven weeks ago, I had surgery and at the last show I played, I didn’t know what was coming next,’ she told the crowd.

‘I’m still recovering, but I’m just so thankful to be here. Seeing you all singing along makes me feel like a little kid again, still doing what I love.’

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