You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful 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 scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
