You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
