You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. 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 perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
