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You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt 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 considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep 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 car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees