You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
