You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great 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 frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
