You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
