You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. 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. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
