You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies 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 smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘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 replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly 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.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
