You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). 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 was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
