You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the West End 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 a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
