You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘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 concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial 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 viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
