You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist 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 simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure 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 walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
