You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees