You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘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 hate being put 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 backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly 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.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
