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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. 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 record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

She was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, 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 was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees