You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial 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 dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently 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 need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
