You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. 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 jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great 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. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because 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
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
