You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought 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 hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. 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 year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
