You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on 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. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, 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 consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
