You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with her cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine biker chic 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, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning 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 appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
