You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, 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 rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
