You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire 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. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
