You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, 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 (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. 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. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
