You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted 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 positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
