You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘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 considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio the group while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
