You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally 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 singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about 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 looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at 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 voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
