You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ 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 start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘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, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
