You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career performing in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
