You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several 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 about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
