You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
