You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored 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 March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. 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 many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight 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 achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
