You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I 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 terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
