You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “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, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ 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 performing in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
