You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
