You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ 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 fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
