You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release 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…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains 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 a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
