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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great 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 frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, 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! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”

Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees