You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch 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 found to have breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands 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 Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
