You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my 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 assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
