You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
