You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged 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 positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
