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You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, real name J. Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees