You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-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 the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
