You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. 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, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! 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 flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
