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You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.

We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees