You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted 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 positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “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 bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. 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. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
