You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep 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 recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
