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You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project 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, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, 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 perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees