You can’t imagine it, Jessie J remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out 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 yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought 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 hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
