You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has joined the trio the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
