You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
