You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in a musical (she was cast 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 lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
