You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; 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 rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked 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 lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band 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 recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
