You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue 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 being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
