You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I 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 terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy 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 follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
