You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen 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 dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
