You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. 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 talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
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 go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
