You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
