You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically 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.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
