You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was intended as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
