You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
