You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. 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.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted 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 expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition 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 returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
