You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
