You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles 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 remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! 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. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
