You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, 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 making her debut performing in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
