You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! 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 ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater 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 tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
