You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen 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 cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
