You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces 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 found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
