You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on 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. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
