You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘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.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
