You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. 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. How offensive! It’s funny because 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.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
