You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica 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 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
