You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
