You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
