You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer 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 remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was cast 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 rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
