You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out 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 a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted 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
