You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, 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 singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-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 she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
