You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles 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 doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘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?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
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 walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess 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 ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
