You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” 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, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
