Jessie J took to the stage for the first time following her breast cancer surgery earlier this year. The moment also marked the first time her two-year-old son saw her perform live.
During her set at BBC Radio 2 In the Park festival in Chelmsford, Essex, over the weekend, fans cheered as Jessie appeared before the crowd. “Some of you may know, some of you may not know, but I had breast cancer surgery 11 weeks ago today,” Jessie J said onstage, per a clip she shared on social media. “And the last show I did, I had no idea what was gonna happen, and I’m still very much in the recovery process,” she continued, per The Daily Mail. “But I’m just so grateful to be here, you have no idea how grateful I am to see so many of you singing along after all these years.”
Jessie then shared that “another special thing that’s happening today is that my son is seeing me sing on stage for the first time.” Wearing earmuffs backstage, her son waved at his mom and also joined her onstage. The video she posted features behind-the-scenes footage of her time at the fest before she hit the stage, alongside scenes of her performance.
Before Jessie began to sing her new track “Living My Best Life,” she shared some insight into why it held a special meaning to her. “Some of you may know it, some of you may not know it, but what this song’s about, I was diagnosed literally two weeks before this song was released, and everyone said, ‘Let’s stop, let’s just put everything on hold,’ and I said, ‘That’s not what life’s about.’”
The “Price Tag” singer added, “Life is about standing in the storm but holding up your umbrella and just keep moving forward.” “So this song is called “Living My Best Life,” and that is what I’m doing every single damn day. ‘Cause we never know when our last day will be, so soak this up, hug the people you love hard,” she said.
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Following the singer’s mastectomy after her breast cancer diagnosis in June, Jessie shared that the cancer did not spread. Six weeks after her first surgery, she was admitted to the hospital once again to address ongoing complications.
Last month, Jessie announced that all U.S. dates of her No Secrets tour were canceled and that she postponed her U.K. and European shows ahead of her second surgery following her cancer diagnosis. While the artist said it was “nothing too serious,” she said the surgery had to be done by the end of the year and “unfortunately, that falls right in the middle of a tour that I had booked.”
