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You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. 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 year.”

Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees