You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my 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 Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. 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.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
