You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and no new music. 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 good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “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 female band the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
