‘It has taught me to embrace life more’: Jessica Cornish on her health battle, career returns and conquering the Chinese market

You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees