You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat 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 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
