You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, 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 dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
