You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
