You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project 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 jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
