You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
