You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
