You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. 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. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
