You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
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 walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. 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 used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
