You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision 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
