You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about 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 start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought 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 fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, 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, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
