You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, 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 rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album 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 log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought 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 lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
