You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my 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 tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ 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 reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
