You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands 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 physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
