You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, 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. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements 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 London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “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 car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
