You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘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 serious she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought 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. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring 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 tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
