You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
