You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs 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 dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
