You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus 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 log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery 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 believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
