You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. 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 a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
