You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ 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 studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
