You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my 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 Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“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, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked 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 blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘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 affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
