Jessie J Returns to Stage for First Time After Breast Cancer Surgery

Jessie J had an emotional return to the stage.

After canceling her U.S. tour and postponing the U.K. and European legs until 2026 last month, the “Domino” hitmaker performed for the first time since undergoing breast cancer surgery.

On Saturday, Sept. 6, Jessie, 37, played BBC Radio 2 In the Park festival in England, where her 2-year-old son Sky Safir — whom she shares with boyfriend Chanan Safir Colman — watched her perform for the first time.

According to the Daily Mail, the “Price Tag” singer became emotional as she addressed the crowd.

“Some of you may know, some of you may not know, but I had breast cancer surgery 11 weeks ago today,” Jessie said. “And the last show I did, I had no idea what was gonna happen, and I’m still very much in the recovery process, but I’m definitely not ready for Babins.”

She continued: “I mean, I am, but my doctors are like ‘calm down, girl’. Do you know what I mean, you can take the girl out of Essex, put her back in to Essex.”

Jessie noted that she was “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,” she said. “It truly feels like I’m a little kid. Still doing what I love.”

Jessie also announced that what made the show “special” was that “my son is seeing me sing on stage for the first time.”

Sky, who sported headphones backstage, waved and then joined Jessie on stage.

Per the Daily Mail, before playing her new track “Living My Best Life,” she spoke about why it meant a lot 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,'” said Jessie

She continued: “Life is about standing in the storm but holding up your umbrella and just keep moving forward. And music, I don’t know about you guys, but for me, music is a healer. Music is the thing that keeps me wanting to wake up in the morning and just makes me excited about life.”

Jessie noted that she was “grateful that I can make music that can give other people something that they might need on a hard day or a good day.”

“So this song is called ‘Living My Best Life,’ and that is what I’m doing every single damn day,” she said. “Cause we never know when our last day will be, so soak this up, hug the people you love hard.”

The “Masterpiece” artist also shared behind-the-scenes footage of her time at the festival before she hit the stage on Instagram on Monday, Sept. 8.

“‘An Essex girl with a mystic meg hair cut’ Was my first caption on MySpace etc back in the day. Not much has changed. Born and raised. ‘Let’s have it. A day I will NEVER forget. Thank you so to my whole team on and off stage (tagged),” Jessie captioned the post, which was soundtracked by her new single “Believe in Magic.”

“To @bbcradio2 for having me and @mitchperyer for making this amazing memory 🎥 you are so talented and so fun to work with. Thank god you came up to me on the street. Magic! 😂🪄 ‘Believe in magic’ OUT NOW 🫀🪄 Link in BIM highlight 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿,” she wrote.

Jessie noted that the performance was the “absolute highlight of my weekend and I’m not ashamed to say I did not expect that to be the case!”

“Loved every minute x,” she concluded.

In the compilation of clips, Jessie could be seen spending time with her son, getting her makeup done, posing on the stage, doing interviews and performing.

In a press release shared with PEOPLE on Thursday, Aug. 28, Jessie revealed she postponed U.K. and European dates for her Acoustic Tour until 2026 while canceling U.S. dates to focus on her health. 

“Unfortunately I have to have a second surgery — nothing too serious but it has to be done by the end of this year,” she said at the time. This falls in the middle of the tour I had booked. I’m so sorry, I feel frustrated and sad, but I need to be better, I need to be healed.” 

The news came nearly three months after she announced on social media that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

When she revealed the news in June, Jessie said she received her diagnosis “Before ‘No Secrets’ came out.”

“I have been in and out of tests throughout this whole period,” she said, adding that she was going “to disappear for a bit after Summertime Ball to have my surgery.”

In an Instagram post at the start of the month, Jessie wrote, “I am 7 weeks post breast cancer surgery. I’m still in the thick of recovery and my body is still finding its way. But I LOVE music and I LOVE my life and I want to LIVE in the moment.”