You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial 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 terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
