You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery 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 thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
