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You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

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