You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
