You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently 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 the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
