You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was cast 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 rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
