You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
