You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
