You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album 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 log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought 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 frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now 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. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish 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 punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
