You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following 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 Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
