You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers 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’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial 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 terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
