You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
