You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
