You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
