You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside 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 West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep 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 the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
