You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
