You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
