You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name J. Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
