You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, 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 making her debut performing in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
