You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of 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 ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
