You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘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.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. 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.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio the group while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
