You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, 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 obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
