You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
