You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! 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 flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending 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 the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
