You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought 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 frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
