You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer 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 big frames. Picture 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 movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains 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 a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged 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, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
