You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
