You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. 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, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs 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 lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
