You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
