You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. 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. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
