You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, 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 flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, 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 going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
