You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ 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 reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
