You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
