You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. 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 says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because 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.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
