You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
