You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘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.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
