You can’t imagine it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-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 nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. 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. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
