You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released 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 talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly 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
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
