You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! 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 perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
