You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
