You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch 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, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. 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 ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
