Jessie J’s Career Highs and Lows After Latest Split
In the 2010s the world could not stop singing to Jessie J, as her songs filled the radio, television, and other mass media, as critics hailed her as “the voice of the generation.”
However, at times more recently, the singer who performed Price Tag, aged 38, has been gradually falling out of the charts, as it is no longer the case, as over a decade has passed since she managed to reach the tenth place on the charts. Last year, she gave a career makeover a try by releasing Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, which is a 16-song album marking her comeback to the music scene after almost eight years.
Nevertheless, it was a flop, and the album only reached No. 19, while the singles released before the release of the album did not even chart. This past month or so, Jessie has suffered yet another setback; her basketball player boyfriend, Chanan Colman, with whom she became parents of a 3-year-old little boy, Sky, dumped her. We still don’t know the actual reason for the rift; Jessie only broke the news on Monday, however, admitting that “they broke up some time ago.”
So what went wrong that ended up with Jessie J being a failure?
Jessie J’s Rise to Fame Made Her a Global Pop Star
Jessie J made her debut by releasing a very successful single in 2010, which made everybody go wild. It was truly impressive.
Her follow-up in 2011 was an awesome album, Who You Are, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and to No. 2 on the UK albums chart. Just a list of other hits from Who You Are: Nobody’s Perfect, Who You Are, Domino, and Laserlight.
One could get the wrong impression that Jessie was just lucky, but, she had already set a record in 2012 as being the first British woman to release 6 chart-topping records of the same album.
Jessie J remained a sensation with her 2013 and 2014 albums, Alive and Sweet Talker, respectively. The song, Bang Bang, from the album Sweet Talker brought Jessie J multi-platinum status worldwide.
Jessie J’s Chart Dominance Faded After Early Success
She became less active from about year one, moving through eight different managers and not managing to land on the top chart. Her next album, R.O.S.E., was delayed by three years before a new album was announced, and Jessie revealed that it was not an easy task for her.
She gave an interview to Billboard in which she revealed that she was making music but was not really having fun doing it. She also said that she was not going to be able to let her problems be solved by making the music; on the other hand, she wanted to make music that could put emotions on her face. She was going to need to be very strong to put into perspective all the situations that were not good to be talked about in songs, and that is why it all happened quite quickly after that.
In fact, she is sure that at no other time in her life was she so close to understanding what it really means to be herself. In the lead-up to the album, Jessie launched Real Deal,” “Think About That, Not My Ex,” and “Queen” as songs, but none of them made it to the main UK Singles Chart.
And then, Jessie did something totally unexpected: She signed up for the Chinese singing show I Am a Singer (which was likened to The X Factor of Asia for professional singers).
Jessie made history by winning a Chinese singing competition
Jessie made a history-making win as the first international artist to win the competition. Her singing of Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing, which was watched by more than one billion people, was the reason behind her recognition. Nevertheless, people have been teasing her on social media for taking that decision. Indeed, a great number of people found it strange that a successful female would want to go through a television talent show. She, however, brushed off their comments with a laugh and said, ”Why? I have no limitations. My feelings are always like that, and since this year I am becoming 30, I just think, “Why not?”
She released her album R.O.S.E.; the title is an acronym made from the initials of Jessie, which stands for Real, Obedient, Solid, and Enchanting, to the public in four parts in the early spring of 2018 following her huge win.
Unfortunately, the album was completely unremarkable in the UK charts and failed even in the US Billboard 200’s top 50 as compared to her previous three albums, which did. A little bit less than a year and a half after that, she released her first Christmas album, This Christmas Day. But even that only reached the 92nd spot on the charts.
Later, Jessie J disappeared from the musical scene for six years and came back with a few single songs that had nothing to do with her career success. It was only recently that she introduced the album of failures, Don’t Tease Me With A Good Time.
Jessie J’s ‘Diva’ Reputation Sparked Backlash at Career Peak
Part of Jessie’s sudden disappearance from the music lists might be attributed to people’s impressions about her manner and diva-like attitude, it was said. There were stories about Jessie doing antisocial things starting when she joined as a coach on The Voice UK in 2011, when she was riding the crest of fame. According to The Sun, her first controversial incident was when she was so unhappy with BBC1’s top person Danny Cohen that she did not allow him to come into her dressing room when he tried to commend her performance.
A TV insider revealed, ‘It did not help Jessie’s ‘diva’ status that her inner circle was doing their own thing, refusing to let her be approached, even though she was the subject of a popular show. ‘ And they made her feel like she was the one and only special artist.’ ‘She was a true diva, which upset the producers because Tom [Jones] and Will[i.am] were the ones with more experience in front of a camera by far, and Jessie was just the new kid on the block.’
Refuting the diva rumor, Jessie commented to Grazia a year later, stating that the diva-like demand that she had made on the reality TV show was only that she wanted to have the lava lamp in her room. However, she remarked, “At times, one must behave like a diva. All the artists that I look up to, from Madonna, Whitney, and Mariah, had “diva” tags placed on them.
(‘So what if you’re strong, have vision, or are an artist? You have to stand up for yourself in your art world; you’ve got to follow your beliefs. And if they get to label you as a diva for doing that, you’re still their diva!’
Jessie J’s Celebrity Feuds Added to Her Career Challenges
In her twenty-year career as a music star, Jessie J has been connected with a number of highly publicized feuds besides her singing and winning competitions. The many disagreements that happened between Jessie and Delta Goodrem when they were co-stars in The Voice Australia were uncomfortable to watch, especially the episode in which Delta Goodrem, being so heated with anger, stormed off the set during the blind auditions stage of the show.
Apart from those who still doubt that everything in the show is a script made for an entertaining audience, show producer John Walsh later denied that the conflict was manufactured for publicity and said that their differences were sincere and real. ‘It was absolutely real, and they got over it right at the end of the show,’ he revealed. ‘They are both talented people, and they look at things entirely differently… and at the end they were able to understand each other, and it is just a matter of different styles.’
Walsh went one further to state that the ladies were not only professionals but also quickly resolved matters themselves: ‘They went to Delta’s trailer one night after the taping was over and had a chat and cleared things up.’ Jessie also talked about this situation: ‘As is known to all, Delta and I had a number of disagreements last year; we debated things differently at that time. ”But this year, we have been great. We know each other now, and it has all been very good.’
Jessie J’s Nicki Minaj Fallout Made Headlines
Jessie J was also involved in a dispute with Nicki Minaj after their collaboration on the 2014 hit song Bang Bang. When reflecting on the creation of the track in an interview, Jessie said that Nicki asked to feature on the song together with her.
Giving her account to Glamour, Jessie revealed: ‘Both Ariana and I really loved it. We just sort of came up with that question like, “Why don’t we just do it together?” So Ariana took the second verse, I stayed with the first one, and later Nicki heard it in the studio and said, “I just have to do it.” We never asked her to come on board; she wanted to do it herself’.
Nicki, however, did not hesitate to retaliate by posting on X/Twitter: ‘Sweetheart @JessieJ, I didn’t even know about the song and asked 2 get involved. The label made me get on it and paid me. How am I to know who gets a hit? Chill out. I am not the damn song monitor.
Jessie finally apologized with an extensive message stating, ‘I’m sorry about getting the story wrong throughout the years. ‘ I was told that you heard the song and wanted to be on it by someone clearly hyping me up at the label. (The one who supported me and my a, without a care) Thank you for clarifying that I was wrong about that.
Jessie J’s Health Battles Have Shaped Her Career
No doubt Jessie’s changing levels of success have also been affected by her ongoing medical problems that have led her to disappear from the public eye for months on end. Through the years, she has experienced a number of personal tragedies, one of them being a tragic miscarriage, which is very hard to go through. She also got deaf, which is a condition that not many people know of, and a heart condition, which took some time getting diagnosed, as a matter of fact. Her condition of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which she discovered in 2012, was a family thing, as was her father, who was also a victim of the same condition.
In WPW syndrome, the heart beats abnormally fast for periods, and Jessie had a stroke that was caused by the condition when she was 17. When she was a little child, she was in the hospital a lot, and in her book, Jessie recalls saying, “I remember passing out many times and having epileptic seizures.” ‘I was a physically weak and pale child who had a greenish tint to her skin from taking the medicine and who was hospitalized very frequently.
Sometimes I would start off by performing well, and then I would be down on my back as if something had taken hold of me. It was only at that point that people became aware there was something wrong. I think I hid my illness rather well and, to my surprise, I have discovered recently I still manage to cover up quite efficiently.’
Jessie J Overcame Heartbreak on Her Journey to Motherhood
The star also has a doctor’s diagnosis of adenomyosis, a rare condition that causes the layer of tissue lining the uterus to start expanding into the muscle wall of the same organ. This disease is connected to problems in becoming pregnant and a higher risk of a spontaneous miscarriage and/or delivering a baby early before its term.
In Jessie’s case, she learned in 2014 that naturally getting pregnant was going to be very difficult, to say the least, yet a hysterectomy had not been in her plans, and so she did not allow herself to have one. As an alternative, she started eating differently with an aim of getting pregnant in the future, which she mentioned at an event in 2019.
Then in 2021, Jessie announced through social media what the result of all her efforts was: that she was going to have a baby. Unfortunately, she was devastated and very upset when doctors during her third scan couldn’t find a fetal heartbeat. This experience of losing the baby was really painful for Jessie. But she soon went on to become a mother with a child named Sky who is the little child of her boyfriend Chanan Safir Colman, a basketball player, in May 2023!
She Faced an ADHD Diagnosis and Breast Cancer Battle
She revealed that she had ADHD and OCD through her public media. Jessie had a major setback last June in her personal life when doctors diagnosed her breast cancer. Prior to this, she underwent surgery for a mastectomy, and then her doctors told her that a follow-up surgery would be required.
While planning her second cancer surgery, she was ‘frustrated’ when doctors delayed her surgery despite Jessie’s decision to cancel her tour and undergo the operation. The singer apologized for her fans having to miss shows unnecessarily, acknowledging that she was just trying to ‘make the best’ out of a very bad position. Jessie was able to take the news straight to the source as she went back to her ‘mum mode’ and started to arrange the whole thing and then announced there would be new dates for her US tour.
About a month ago, Jessie was ecstatic at the reveal of the great news. After going through breast cancer, only 11 months after being diagnosed, she is now cancer-free. Jessie posted via Instagram a short note announcing the good news that after getting the results of her annual check-up visit to the hospital, she ‘sobbed for hours’ when she found out.
Jessie Confirms Split From Chanan After Five Years
This week, Jessie J said that she has split from fellow parent Chanan after five years of being together. Liked posting a photo of herself and her husband with their son Sky, who is 3. Jessie wrote, ‘Chanan and me decided to put an end to our romantic relationship a while ago.
‘It was a sorrowful and hard time, but we concentrated on doing things the right way and changing the situation privately and positively so that our son and we can benefit and be happy while doing this co-parenting thing.
‘It’s just that, given that we are celebrities, this public announcement is the simplest way to tell people the truth before people start spreading rumors or they come up with a false narrative.’ She added: ‘Our relationship will always give each other support with love, respect, and care as friends, and mainly being Sky’s mom and dad together.’ ‘So, if you happen to see us out and about as a family or us posting each other on social media from time to time. Exactly what we are up to. ‘We are raising and loving Sky together, with a positive friendship in the background.’
Her Past Relationships Have Often Made Headlines
In May 2025, Jessie J commented that getting married wouldn’t really be her big goal because they were already ‘locked in’ through raising a child together. She did see the possibility of getting married ‘one day’ but noted that it was not really very important for them to be married at the moment. With Chanan, she didn’t have a famous relationship, unlike her earlier one with Channing Tatum, a Hollywood actor, where they dated after Channing split with his wife Jenna Dewan in 2018. They went public by September of the same year and had a on-off relationship for about two years before parting as a couple, for real, in October 2020. After the divorce, Jessie wrote several cryptic posts explaining ways of keeping love relationship healthy and unhealthy at the same time. She sang the song ‘Flashing’ and said, ‘Unhealthy love is when two folks expecting each other to solve the problems of the other. Healthy love is when the couple realizes and addresses their own issues with help of each other.’
We are always rushing about our love and success that we never wonder why we don’t feel anything. We give deadlines for love and timetables for success so that we can live a life we think it’s the right one. Emotions do not depend on one’s age, so whether you are late or early, you’re doing it right.
Jessie J’s Love Life Has Seen Several High-Profile Splits
Four months later, after their break-up, she began seeing dancer Max Pham for seven months, who eventually decided to part ways in a much healthier and more respectful way. When asked about her relationship status in an Instagram Q&A, she said that ‘nothing dramatic’ happened and that Max was an ‘amazing man.’
Jessie wrote, ‘Open, happy, and loving myself. Max & I have been just friends for a while now. Nothing dramatic happened. Therefore, please, don’t overreact.’
‘He is a very admirable man. We both have so much respect and love for each other. It was simply not romantically compatible. Hence, we came to only be friends,’ Jessie concluded.
‘The very reason I feel it very necessary to do is the weird and a little hard situations one gets into when people leave one’s past. I hate the fact that other people can turn into huge matters what other people can have made your personal breakups into. Both of us now are happily living and loving our lives,’ Jessie J added at the end as well.
Jessie’s initial romantic relationship that was revealed publicly was with the American singer Luke James, and they parted ways just after eleven months in November 2014.
When their love story was put to rest back then, the media were speculating that perhaps Jessie was not happy with Luke, as he was using her name to get publicity.
