You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “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 car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
