You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out 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 early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, 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, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on 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 fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
