Pop star Jessie J has revealed she’s battling early-stage breast cancer at the age of 37 — the latest chapter in a long, painful history of health struggles that began in childhood and have followed her through every stage of her career.
The Price Tag singer took to social media on Wednesday to announce her diagnosis, explaining that the cancer was caught early, just before the release of her single No Secrets in April. Jessie confirmed she will undergo surgery after her upcoming performance at Capital’s Summertime Ball in London on June 15.
This isn’t the first time the British star, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, has faced serious medical battles.
At just nine years old, Jessie was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome — a rare heart condition inherited from her father that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast. At 17, shortly after finishing the BRIT School and signing her first record deal, she suffered a stroke.
In her autobiography Nice To Meet You, Jessie recalled collapsing frequently and having seizures as a child, often hiding her condition to appear “normal.” “I had a green tinge to my skin from the meds and was always in and out of hospital,” she wrote.
In 2020, Jessie revealed she had been diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, a chronic inner ear disorder that left her temporarily deaf in one ear and suffering from dizzy spells. That same year, she also began battling vocal nodules and severe acid reflux, which at times made it almost impossible for her to sing.
Jessie’s voice issues forced her to go on vocal rest, undergo endless tests, and follow a strict diet that lasted for months. “It was like someone had crawled into my ear and turned on a hair dryer,” she said of the Ménière’s symptoms.
In the midst of all this, Jessie faced heartbreak in 2021 when she suffered a miscarriage just weeks after deciding to have a child on her own. She was told in 2014 that her chances of conceiving naturally were slim due to adenomyosis — a painful condition where the tissue lining the uterus grows into the muscular wall.
Despite doctors recommending a hysterectomy, Jessie refused and instead radically changed her diet. Her resilience was rewarded in 2023 when she gave birth to her son, Sky, with partner Chanan Safir Colman. But the fear of another miscarriage haunted her pregnancy: “I spent an absurd amount of money on early scans,” she admitted.
Adding to her list of diagnoses, Jessie revealed in 2024 that she had been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD, explaining that motherhood had “exposed” the conditions in new ways. She now describes ADHD as a “superpower — as long as you see it from the right angle.”
Even now, as she prepares for surgery, Jessie J is choosing openness, strength, and honesty. Her latest challenge may be breast cancer, but it is far from defining her. If anything, it highlights a life marked not just by hits and accolades, but unshakable resilience.
