You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ 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 found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
