You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
