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 finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
