🔗 Share this article

You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ 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, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. 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 ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees