You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ 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 takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
