You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, 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. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
