You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal 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 next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. 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, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
