You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
