You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
