You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my backside 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 surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
