You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
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 medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
