You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
