You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
