You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my 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 she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
