You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
