You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, 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 OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
