You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s 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 smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk 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 informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. 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 viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! 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 flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees