You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. 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 scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, 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. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
