You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, 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 at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
