You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. 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 expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
