You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending 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 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
