You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
