You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo 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 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
