You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought 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 viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia 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 skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
