You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album 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 expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast 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 lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
