You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly 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 early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
