You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, 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 fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a 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 was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees