You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “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 frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band the group while studying at the academy. “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 automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
