You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy 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 Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ 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 specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt 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 scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut performing in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
