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You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band 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 planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees