You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts 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 voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
