You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-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 persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly 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.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
