You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, 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 perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
