You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered 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 frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit 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 year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
