You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however 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. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
