You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
