You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first 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, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought 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 was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before 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 thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked 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 blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
