You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought 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. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
