You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
