You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. 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. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
