You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
