You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while living with the disease. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected 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 breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat 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 highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
