You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
