You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
