You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. 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 difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
