You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I 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 scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, 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 fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “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 implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, 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, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
